Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran has consumed over 80 percent of its renewable water resources, Sattar Mahmoudi, the country’s deputy energy minister, said.
In this regard, Iran has been dragging behind the global standards, he said, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported Dec. 5.
He further said that alongside the climatic constraints, mismanagement has also contributed to the problem.
Former Iranian deputy energy minister, Mohammad Reza Attarzadeh previously said that the country's renewable water sources per capita have fallen from 5000 cubic meters in 1961 to 1750 cubic meters in 2006. He said at the time that if the current trend continues, Iran will suffer a water crisis in 2025.
In May, Isa Keshavarz, secretary general of the Farmers House of Iran non-governmental organization, said that Iran's renewable water resources will go below 80 billion cubic meters in five years.
While the renewable water resources have dropped from 132 billion to 88 billion cubic meters in thirty years, Iran's production, research and administrative master plans still lie on the old statistics, he warned.
The Iranian Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organisation reported in 2013 that around two thirds of Iran's area is rapidly changing into desert.