TEHRAN – The Department of Environment (DOE) is planning to develop a national document on land subsidence, Mohsen Shahryari, an official with the DOE, has said.

Highlighting the National Environment Week (being held from June 6 to 12), and the theme of the week on Monday, ‘Climate, water and sustainable security; Sustainable water resources management, land subsidence control, and getting through drought’, Shahryari noted that a draft of the document has been submitted to the government, IRNA reported.

Meanwhile, the department has submitted a bill to the parliament to create legal support for subsidence management to enable the effective implementation of preventive and monitoring programs, he added

Moreover, DOE’s proposal to create a national working group on land subsidence has been approved by the cabinet of ministers, he further noted.

Referring to the expansion of land subsidence across the country, particularly in Isfahan, the official highlighted that climate change and ongoing drought have doubled the need for the development of comprehensive plans for water resources and land subsidence management.

The National Environment Week is being held under the theme ‘preserving environment, preserving national security’.

The theme highlights that protecting the environment is not a choice anymore, but a strategic necessity to ensure sustainable development, improve life quality, and protect national interests, doe.ir quoted Shina Ansari, the head of the Department of Environment (DOE), as saying.

Today, more than ever, close collaborations are needed among the government, the private sector, civil society organizations, universities, the media, and the public to conserve natural resources, reduce pollution, sustainably manage water resources, combat climate change, and preserve biodiversity.

Land subsidence affects 254 plains nationwide

According to the head of the Crisis Management Organization, Hossein Zafari, around 254 areas and plains in different provinces of the country are affected by land subsidence.

Kerman, Khorasan Razavi, and Tehran provinces are the most affected by the phenomenon, ISNA quoted Zafari as saying in August 2025.

Land subsidence varies from 2-18 centimeters in different parts of the country, he added.

The concentration of population in cities, climate change, low rainfall, frequent droughts, and increased underground water extraction intensified land subsidence in the country since the early 1970s, the official noted.

Land subsidence occurs in two ways: in some areas, the uniform subsidence results in the entire plain descending evenly with no visible surface signs, but in some other areas, asymmetrical subsidence causes visible damage on the ground’s surface. Evaluating and monitoring the phenomenon is an ongoing process, Zafari added.

Referring to high-risk areas in Tehran province, the official said the south, southwest, southeast, as well as the southern regions of Tehran province are prone to subsidence risk.

Highlighting the fact that overconsumption of underground water is the main contributor to the land subsidence, Zafari said part of the operational plans and measures of the Crisis Management Organization focus on the prevention of excessive water consumption, and the other part is centered around reforming laws and regulations, as well as practices used for the construction and maintenance of vital structures and facilities in affected areas. However, the main mission of the organization is to monitor and follow up on the actions required by the responsible institutions and agencies.

Water supply in Iran largely depends on rainfall, snowmelt, and underground aquifers, but decades of over-extraction have left groundwater resources severely depleted. While the global water resources are stretched by climate change and human population growth, farms and industries are increasingly turning to groundwater to fill their needs.

MT/MG