Tehran’s primary water reservoirs are facing critical shortages. Latian Dam’s water levels have plummeted to below 10 percent of its full capacity. Similarly, the Karaj Dam, which is vital for supplying water to both Tehran and the Alborz provinces, has reached what officials describe as “dead capacity.” These alarming statistics underscore the severity of the crisis.

Recent data released by Iran’s energy ministry paints a grim picture. There has been a staggering 53 percent reduction in the volume of water flowing into the country’s reservoirs compared to the previous year. This drastic downturn highlights the urgent need for solutions to mitigate the impacts of this escalating water shortage.

‘Losing the possibility’ to live in your home

Some local officials have suggested they may need to reduce water pressure from late at night to early morning to manage demand and save resources.

“This is no longer a political issue … The issue is that they have deprived us of the basic necessities of life,” Nazari says.

“You turn on the tap and there’s no water. You have to experience that to understand how terrifying it is, how essential water is to your life, and how everything just stops without it.”

‘I feel miserable’

Later, while serving as Iran’s deputy environment minister from 2017 to 2018, he raised serious concerns about the worsening water shortage and criticised the regime’s water management. In response, he was accused of being a “water terrorist” by Keyhan Newspaper, which has links to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

After spending several years in prison, they have since been released.

“I don’t care if those projections or predictions are correct.”

Tehran on the brink of ‘day zero’

“The fact that this issue has now reached Tehran, Tehran is talking about day zero, the day that the taps would be dry, means that we are in the worst possible situation.”

More than 60 per cent of the water in Tehran is supplied by underground sources, which many experts warn are also dwindling.

The city, famous for its surrounding snowy mountains, hasn’t seen a drop of rain in over 200 days.

Residents considering leaving

“At least the basic facilities of a normal life should exist.”

“What we can see from the satellites is that most of those reservoirs available around Tehran are out of storage, out of water,” he says.

“This is no longer a crisis … At least when a crisis occurs, we have some hope that mitigation is possible. This is a point of failure,” Madani says.

Behind Iran’s ‘water bankruptcy’

The consequences of this have unfolded in various parts of Iran that are facing environmental issues such as “shrinking lakes, land subsidence, sinkholes, desertification, deforestation, sand and dust storms and wildfires, biodiversity loss, and many things that are related to shrinking water resources”, Madani explains.

“It’s backfiring because the more you bring water, the more you promote the perception of water availability.”

“If we continue to develop without a plan, without knowing what the future will be like, we will not be able to respond to future generations,” he said.

Climate Change and ‘the billion dollar question’

With the global climate summit underway in Brazil, some campaigning organisations, such as Greenpeace, are calling on COP30 members to also focus on the MENA region, which is “standing on the frontlines of the climate crisis”.

“You’ve got countries in the Middle East that do have sources of water, particularly in the mountains … But there [are] conflicts around how that water is going to be allocated across countries and within those countries.”

---