Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.7
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has called for proper management of water and energy resources in the country, benefiting from capabilities of the private sector.
In a meeting with senior officials of the energy ministry, Rouhani reiterated the need for saving water and energy resources through implementing long-term plans, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on April 7.
Fortunately, we have gained self-sufficiency in water and power sectors, so that the country is currently exporting technical and engineering services in these fields, Rouhani said.
However, we should reform water consumption patterns, especially in the agriculture sector, the president said, highlighting the need for more proper utilization of water from border rivers.
The situation of water resources in Iran has passed beyond the critical condition, Donya-ye Eqtesad daily quoted Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian as saying on February 19.
At present, 96 billion cubic meters of the country's total 120 billion cubic meters of renewable water resources is being consumed annually, he said, adding that if 40-60 percent of renewable water resources is consumed in any country, then that country is said to be in a critical condition.
The water shortage has reached a critical level in Tabriz, Isfahan, Khuzestan, Qum, Mashhad and Hamadan provinces, advisor to Iran's Energy Minister, Hamidrza Janbaz said on Nov.17.
According to Janbaz, currently a special program is being worked out in order to solve the water shortage problem in the next three years.
In July, Iran's water supply company warned in a special statement about the water shortage in several cities of the country and imposed quotas for fresh water.
Iran is located in an arid zone and the country has been repeatedly faced with drought in the past 40 years.
Meanwhile, Iran's Deputy Energy Minister Housang Falahatian said on April 7 if people reduce their electricity consumption by 10 per cent, the country will not face any power outage in summer.
He further encouraged Iranians to reduce their water and electricity consumption.
Falahatian said on Feb. 17 that the country would be able to save $7 billion annually by reducing electricity consumption by 10 per cent, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported.
"Iran produced 46,400 megawatt hours of electricity in previous summer," he said, adding that the figure is expected to reach 200 billion kilowatt hours next summer.
"For generating the mentioned amount of electricity, some 67-70 billion liters of fuel is needed, which will make a total of $70 billion," he explained.