As an Iranian, i simply don't see any good future ahead. Adding to the water problem we haven't had any rain in many cities and it really doesn't feel like we've had any fall season yet! Winter's...
As an Iranian, i simply don't see any good future ahead.
Adding to the water problem we haven't had any rain in many cities and it really doesn't feel like we've had any fall season yet! Winter's not that far off and i'm just newly seeing tree leafs yellowing :(
Oh yeah and we got a forest fire that went on for like 20 days or so.
So i do what i can do, keep studing and try to find a job in another country, keep myself away from the news and enjoy small things in life. Sadly it's... selfish, but with nothing i can do i will enjoy life until it breaks down.
Excuse my ignorance but what does it mean for the water to run out, mechanically? Like, is it just, turn the tap, no more water, time to GTFO? Self care under duress isn't selfish, you can't take...
Excuse my ignorance but what does it mean for the water to run out, mechanically? Like, is it just, turn the tap, no more water, time to GTFO?
Self care under duress isn't selfish, you can't take care of others until you take care of yourself. I pray for humanity.
@slabs37 actually posted a really good video about the situation that is worth watching, IMO: https://tildes.net/~enviro/1rhd/how_iran_is_running_out_of_water TL;DW - Aquifers all around the...
TL;DW - Aquifers all around the country have been almost completely drained due to poor water management policies, and an overreliance on wells (both legal and illegal) for irrigation. And almost all the country's water reservoirs are either critically low or totally drained already due to a still ongoing, 6 year long drought, and climate change affecting the region's average rainfall and temperatures far more than the surrounding regions. And those issues have also been exacerbated by them still utilizing incredibly outdated technology (which sanctions are at least partially to blame for) leading to incredibly poor water efficiency compared to their neighbors, and corruption influencing the country's water infrastructure and industrial projects rather than population needs or sustainability considerations.
So yes, essentially turn on tap, no water, time to GTFO. Right now, no water coming out of the taps in Tehran (and several other major cities) is due to strict rationing rather than them completely running out of water quite yet. But Tehran itself has already used up 50% of the remaining water in its local reservoirs this year, even with the rationing and bringing in tanker trucks full of water from elsewhere. And if the drought severity continues like this they are likely going to completely run out of water in their local reservoirs in another year or two at most.
Indeed it does mean "no more water, time to GTFO" which will bring problems of mass-displacement when the time comes aswell. One another side of this many-sided-coin, we have the situation not...
Indeed it does mean "no more water, time to GTFO" which will bring problems of mass-displacement when the time comes aswell.
One another side of this many-sided-coin, we have the situation not sinking in for some people and i still constantly see small wastes of water, leaving a tap on while brushing their teeth, leaving the hose on until water is essentially overflowing out the garden, etc.
I'm Gen Z and growing up i remember seeing TV ads and Posters around teaching how to decrease water usage, sadly the culture for low water usage never really developed in some places.
TBH, I think you should be wary about blaming fellow ordinary citizens too much for this. A lot like climate change and CO2 output, I suspect water waste from the daily activities of civilians is...
TBH, I think you should be wary about blaming fellow ordinary citizens too much for this. A lot like climate change and CO2 output, I suspect water waste from the daily activities of civilians is a drop in the bucket compared to industrial use. But regular people make for fine scapegoats, since it draws the blame away from the real culprits, those making immense profits off using up far more than their fair share of limited resources.
There seems to be little recent data about Iran and a lot has changed since then, but in 2004 it was almost all agricultural: https://www.worldometers.info/water/iran-water/ Agricultural water...
There seems to be little recent data about Iran and a lot has changed since then, but in 2004 it was almost all agricultural:
Agricultural water share varies extremely by county, from 99% to nearly zero. This likely has to do with the amount of agriculture, the amount of natural rainfall versus irrigation, and specific crops (like growing rice in wet climates). Here are some comparisons:
It makes sense that in a desert climate like much of Iran, agriculture depends heavily on irrigation.
Cities can usually outbid agriculture if they're allowed to. Meanwhile, farmers can drill wells and solar makes well pumping cheaper even for poor farmers. But with dry reservoirs and empty aquifers, I wonder what Iranian farmers do?
The video slabs37 submitted and I linked to actually covers this. The agriculture in Iran is largely centered in the north along the edge of the Caspian sea, northwest around Lake Urmia (which has...
The video slabs37 submitted and I linked to actually covers this. The agriculture in Iran is largely centered in the north along the edge of the Caspian sea, northwest around Lake Urmia (which has now almost completely dried up), and southwest next to Kuwait and the Persian gulf. You can even see this for yourself on satellite images of the country. And in those regions, rainfall is significantly more plentiful, and the majority of water usage for the agriculture located there comes from those bodies of water, the rivers flowing into them, and the local aquifers accessed by wells. So your stat about agriculture using the most water in the country overall doesn't really help us understand who/what is using up the majority of water in the central/eastern arid regions, where the largest cities are located and now facing shortages.
However, what does help us understand who/what likely bears more of the responsibility for the shortages is the fact that almost all the heavy industries (like steel and petrochemical production) are also located in the central/eastern arid regions. They may not use as much water overall as the agriculture in other regions, but they still require a significant amount of it, and they're utilizing water from the same reservoirs as those cities. And according to the video, the reason for industry being built there, as opposed to in the regions where water is more plentiful, is largely due to a combination of corruption (the same people in charge of selecting sites to build water infrastructure projects like dams also own the industrial companies) and strategic concerns (building the industries closer to the borders would have made them more vulnerable to attack).
Israel is a study in contrast, as it's also a rather dry place, but it goes to extreme techno-infrastructural lengths to produce, reclaim, and conserve water, like the Fremen in Dune. It gets over...
Israel is a study in contrast, as it's also a rather dry place, but it goes to extreme techno-infrastructural lengths to produce, reclaim, and conserve water, like the Fremen in Dune. It gets over half of its water supply from unconventional sources, and the vast majority of its drinking water comes through desalination.
Their agricultural water practices are very efficient: the country pioneered the drip irrigation method en masse: using tubes to slowly deliver water directly to plant roots, instead of indiscriminately watering large areas where a great deal of water is 'lost'. Treated wastewater also gets reclaimed for agricultural use.
It's unfortunate that Iran's leadership has misused its resources and driven away its best and brightest for many years.
Sanctions are a major factor here. Iran has limited ability to outsource water-intensive production to other countries, and they can't attract or retain talent because they can't access the...
Sanctions are a major factor here. Iran has limited ability to outsource water-intensive production to other countries, and they can't attract or retain talent because they can't access the international market. It's toxic for sympathetic nations to work with Iranian companies, lest they face sanctions. Without sanctions, they would be able to retain much more of their top talent and would likely attract bright minds from South Asia and the Middle East.
From the article: ... ... ... More coverage: Iranians fear taps running dry as country faces worst drought in 60 years ... ... ...
From the article:
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has suggested his country's capital will need to be moved from Tehran due to ecological unsustainability in the city.
Speaking at a meeting in Qazvin, the president warned that relocating the capital would become unavoidable given the overcrowding and water shortages in the city of 9.7 million.
His government has proposed the underdeveloped Makran region in southeastern Iran as a possible new location.
"When we proposed relocating the capital, we lacked the budget - otherwise it might have happened," Pezeshkian told officials.
"People said it was impossible, but now it’s no longer optional."
...
Concerns over water shortages have been mounting in Tehran, which has been struck by a crippling drought with Iranian media even speculating about the possibility of evacuating the capital.
...
Tehran’s dams normally supply 70 percent of the city's water, with the rest provided by underground resources. Low rainfall and increased evaporation have, however, reduced the dams’ water share and put pressure on groundwater.
...
The city is renowned for its congestion and pollution, made only worse by aged vehicles which take to the roads every day, and only partly relieved by subway system, which has been running since 1999 and now carries more than three million people daily.
Taps are already running dry across Iran as the government enforces strict rationing to try to conserve what limited supplies it still has.
...
Rainfall across much of the country is about 85 per cent below average, with the worst drought conditions in about 60 years taking hold.
Decades of mismanagement of natural resources, including the construction of too many dams and a lack of enforcement when it came to drilling illegal wells, have combined with inefficient agriculture and adverse weather conditions to lead to the crisis.
...
Another Iranian, Nasim, said the quality of the drinking water they did get was "very poor".
She argued that cutting off water supplies, or "reducing pressure" as it was described by authorities, was not "a real solution".
"I see that people are buying all kinds of water storage containers, from small 4-litre buckets to large tanks," she said.
"Even if we don't use water during those cut-off hours, we still have to store it."
...
Satellite imagery has shown the scale of the depleted water reserves in dams across Iran.
Nineteen major dams, accounting for about 10 per cent of the country's supplies, are reportedly dry.
Many that still hold water are at single-digit percentage capacity.
As an Iranian, i simply don't see any good future ahead.
Adding to the water problem we haven't had any rain in many cities and it really doesn't feel like we've had any fall season yet! Winter's not that far off and i'm just newly seeing tree leafs yellowing :(
Oh yeah and we got a forest fire that went on for like 20 days or so.
So i do what i can do, keep studing and try to find a job in another country, keep myself away from the news and enjoy small things in life. Sadly it's... selfish, but with nothing i can do i will enjoy life until it breaks down.
Excuse my ignorance but what does it mean for the water to run out, mechanically? Like, is it just, turn the tap, no more water, time to GTFO?
Self care under duress isn't selfish, you can't take care of others until you take care of yourself. I pray for humanity.
@slabs37 actually posted a really good video about the situation that is worth watching, IMO:
https://tildes.net/~enviro/1rhd/how_iran_is_running_out_of_water
TL;DW - Aquifers all around the country have been almost completely drained due to poor water management policies, and an overreliance on wells (both legal and illegal) for irrigation. And almost all the country's water reservoirs are either critically low or totally drained already due to a still ongoing, 6 year long drought, and climate change affecting the region's average rainfall and temperatures far more than the surrounding regions. And those issues have also been exacerbated by them still utilizing incredibly outdated technology (which sanctions are at least partially to blame for) leading to incredibly poor water efficiency compared to their neighbors, and corruption influencing the country's water infrastructure and industrial projects rather than population needs or sustainability considerations.
So yes, essentially turn on tap, no water, time to GTFO. Right now, no water coming out of the taps in Tehran (and several other major cities) is due to strict rationing rather than them completely running out of water quite yet. But Tehran itself has already used up 50% of the remaining water in its local reservoirs this year, even with the rationing and bringing in tanker trucks full of water from elsewhere. And if the drought severity continues like this they are likely going to completely run out of water in their local reservoirs in another year or two at most.
Indeed it does mean "no more water, time to GTFO" which will bring problems of mass-displacement when the time comes aswell.
One another side of this many-sided-coin, we have the situation not sinking in for some people and i still constantly see small wastes of water, leaving a tap on while brushing their teeth, leaving the hose on until water is essentially overflowing out the garden, etc.
I'm Gen Z and growing up i remember seeing TV ads and Posters around teaching how to decrease water usage, sadly the culture for low water usage never really developed in some places.
TBH, I think you should be wary about blaming fellow ordinary citizens too much for this. A lot like climate change and CO2 output, I suspect water waste from the daily activities of civilians is a drop in the bucket compared to industrial use. But regular people make for fine scapegoats, since it draws the blame away from the real culprits, those making immense profits off using up far more than their fair share of limited resources.
There seems to be little recent data about Iran and a lot has changed since then, but in 2004 it was almost all agricultural:
https://www.worldometers.info/water/iran-water/
Agricultural water share varies extremely by county, from 99% to nearly zero. This likely has to do with the amount of agriculture, the amount of natural rainfall versus irrigation, and specific crops (like growing rice in wet climates). Here are some comparisons:
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/agricultural-water-as-a-share-of-total-water-withdrawals?country=IRN~USA~CAN~OWID_LIC~OWID_EU27~GBR
It makes sense that in a desert climate like much of Iran, agriculture depends heavily on irrigation.
Cities can usually outbid agriculture if they're allowed to. Meanwhile, farmers can drill wells and solar makes well pumping cheaper even for poor farmers. But with dry reservoirs and empty aquifers, I wonder what Iranian farmers do?
The video slabs37 submitted and I linked to actually covers this. The agriculture in Iran is largely centered in the north along the edge of the Caspian sea, northwest around Lake Urmia (which has now almost completely dried up), and southwest next to Kuwait and the Persian gulf. You can even see this for yourself on satellite images of the country. And in those regions, rainfall is significantly more plentiful, and the majority of water usage for the agriculture located there comes from those bodies of water, the rivers flowing into them, and the local aquifers accessed by wells. So your stat about agriculture using the most water in the country overall doesn't really help us understand who/what is using up the majority of water in the central/eastern arid regions, where the largest cities are located and now facing shortages.
However, what does help us understand who/what likely bears more of the responsibility for the shortages is the fact that almost all the heavy industries (like steel and petrochemical production) are also located in the central/eastern arid regions. They may not use as much water overall as the agriculture in other regions, but they still require a significant amount of it, and they're utilizing water from the same reservoirs as those cities. And according to the video, the reason for industry being built there, as opposed to in the regions where water is more plentiful, is largely due to a combination of corruption (the same people in charge of selecting sites to build water infrastructure projects like dams also own the industrial companies) and strategic concerns (building the industries closer to the borders would have made them more vulnerable to attack).
Israel is a study in contrast, as it's also a rather dry place, but it goes to extreme techno-infrastructural lengths to produce, reclaim, and conserve water, like the Fremen in Dune. It gets over half of its water supply from unconventional sources, and the vast majority of its drinking water comes through desalination.
Their agricultural water practices are very efficient: the country pioneered the drip irrigation method en masse: using tubes to slowly deliver water directly to plant roots, instead of indiscriminately watering large areas where a great deal of water is 'lost'. Treated wastewater also gets reclaimed for agricultural use.
It's unfortunate that Iran's leadership has misused its resources and driven away its best and brightest for many years.
I'd say Israel's history with water is a little muddier than is being presented.
Sanctions are a major factor here. Iran has limited ability to outsource water-intensive production to other countries, and they can't attract or retain talent because they can't access the international market. It's toxic for sympathetic nations to work with Iranian companies, lest they face sanctions. Without sanctions, they would be able to retain much more of their top talent and would likely attract bright minds from South Asia and the Middle East.
From the article:
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More coverage:
Iranians fear taps running dry as country faces worst drought in 60 years
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