Baku, Azerbaijan, May 3
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
The volume of precipitations and renewable water resources is decreasing in Iran, said Sattar Mahmoudi, the Iranian deputy energy minister.
The volume of renewable water resources has decreased from 135 million cubic meters to 110 million cubic meters, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted Mahmoudi as saying on May 3.
With growing population and industries, the volume of water consumption has become out of control, he said.
Four decades ago, the average annual rainfall in the country fell from 250 millimeters to 240 millimeters and the average volume of ground waters decreased from 86 million cubic meters to 46 million cubic meters, he added.
The only way to save the water resources is to promote the proper use of water consumption, he said, adding that people should be concerned about declining water resources.
Iran's Energy Minister Hamid Reza Chitchian has said that the situation of water resources in Iran has passed beyond the critical condition.
"At present, 96 billion cubic meters of the country's total 120 billion cubic meters of renewable water resources are being consumed annually," he said, adding that if 40-60 percent of renewable water resources are consumed in any country, that country is said to be in a critical condition.
Iran's total annual water consumption is approximately 93 billion cubic meters, out of which about 92 percent is used in agriculture (86 billion cubic meters), 6.6 percent in municipality (6.18 billion cubic meters), and 1.2 percent in industry (1.12 billion cubic meters), according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO).
Up to 70 percent of water used in the agriculture sector is being wasted, Iranian officials say.