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ABC News
01-08-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
In Iran, heat, drought and a lack of water emerge as yet another crisis
After living through a 12-day war with Israel, the people of Iran have been hit with a second crisis, as devastating heat, a prolonged drought and decades of mismanagement culminate in severe water shortages. Water and energy outages are now a daily occurrence as the country edges closer to "day zero", with warnings Tehran's water supply could run dry in just weeks. "We are talking about a possible day zero in Tehran," Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health said. "We are facing this situation of no water and no electricity during extreme heat and on top of that, we are seeing wildfires here and there, dust storms, and so on." Tehran's population of 16.8 million people had previously been immune to the impacts of drought, with a large portion of their clean drinking supply coming from groundwater. "Iran is having one more very dry year, even drier than the most recent dry years, and the reservoirs are empty," Madani said. "Surface water is not sufficient and Iran has been draining a lot of groundwater in many areas, so the groundwater level is low." In July, ongoing heatwaves with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees prompted Iranian authorities to ask people to conserve water. The Iranian regime even made the drastic move to create a public holiday in an attempt to reduce energy and water demands. Tehran's provincial water management company called for a reduction of "at least 20 per cent" to help ease the shortages. Madani, who previously worked as the deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment, said the fact the regime was being so open about the crisis was an indicator of just how serious the situation was. "The public don't necessarily react in a positive way because they remind those in charge about those warnings, about all the things that the scientists said years ago. "And they ask, why did you dismiss them?" While the five-year drought has played a large part in Iran's water woes, the crisis has been amplified by decades of overuse and mismanagement. The mass construction of dams by the Iranian government in recent years has caused many areas downstream to dry out, including Isfahan, where farmers have been protesting a lack of water supply for years. Around 90 per cent of Iran's water is used in agriculture, with current irrigation practices highly inefficient. Professor Peter Scales from the University of Melbourne travelled to Lake Urmia in the country's north a decade ago, on a failed project to restore the region's largest lake, which dried out in 2023. "In an environment where water use is uncapped, it allows modern farming practices to exploit the system pretty heavily," he said. "They want to exploit water resources that normally are not exploitable, so they're not doing what we would call a mass balance of their water." It is something US President Donald Trump highlighted in a speech in Saudi Arabia in May this year. "Iran's leaders have managed to turn green farmland into dry deserts, as their corrupt water mafia — it's called the water mafia — causes droughts and empty riverbeds," Trump said. "They get rich, but they don't let the people have any of it." While terms like "water mafia" might catch the public's attention, Madani said it took away from the complexity of the problems facing Iran. "What we see in Iran is the collective outcome of many bad decisions, by many good and bad people." Countries in the Middle East are among the top water-stressed in the world, according to data from the World Resources Institute. "It's getting hotter, it's drier and water is really at a premium in terms of reliability and availability," Mohammed Mahmoud, lead for Middle East Climate and Water Policy at the United Nations University, said. "The facts are, this region is going to accelerate in terms of warming — higher than other parts of the world. "Fresh water resources are going to be stressed more than other parts of the world." Madani said the role of climate change in Iran was undeniable. "We see more frequent and intense droughts, but also more frequent and intense floods, wildfires, heat and other extreme events. "We see this in many places around the world, and Iran is no exception." But he said to blame the water crisis in Iran solely on climate change was reductionist. "All of a sudden, you see something that you cannot deny." Madani said it would take a crisis like Tehran running out of water for real change to occur. "The tendency of governments is to delay transformative action because they're costly politically, they're hard to implement. "Ironically, we need these crises and extremes for improving our management systems. That's sad, but it's very true." Iran is not the only country in the region dealing with prolonged drought and heat: the highest temperatures on the planet this week were recorded in Iraq, where the mercury hit 52 degrees on multiple days in a row. Türkiye registered 50.5 degrees last Saturday — a nationwide record — in its south-east as it battles devastating wildfires. In the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the heat is unrelenting. Temperatures are forecast to remain above 47 degrees for at least another week, and the capital, Baghdad, will be only a few degrees cooler. While Iraq is no stranger to extreme heat, the United Nations lists the country as among the most vulnerable to climate change, citing water scarcity, drought, and extreme temperatures. Like Iran, the country is suffering through one of its driest periods, with Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources reporting water storage is down to just 8 per cent of full capacity. Authorities blame reduced river flows in part on upstream dams built in neighbouring Iran and Türkiye, which Iraq says have dramatically shrunk the once-mighty Tigris and Euphrates, whose waters have been crucial for irrigation for millennia. "The reality is, when there's not enough water, what ends up happening is those countries upstream will tend to hoard it or save it to their benefit as much as they can," Mahmoud said. As water scarcity has worsened across the region, so too have geopolitical tensions. "Fortunately, and hopefully this remains the case, countries have not gone to war and conflict just over water," Mahmoud said. "But it does cause complications in terms of geopolitical relations." Mahmoud said conflicts also limited the ability of governments and communities to respond when crises hit. "We have conflict issues across the region and I'll even throw in the civil war in Sudan, for example," he said. "They cause a disruption in the ability for those countries and communities that are affected by conflict to react adequately." Heat is adding to an already dire situation in Gaza, with a lack of water and shelter one more "obstacle to survival", according to Mahmoud. "In a really perverse way, it's probably lowest on the list of things that people in Gaza are tackling to just survive day to day. "We're entering the warmest part of the year and so survival, in terms of that alone, becomes a challenge. "The reality is there is no infrastructure … to mitigate issues of exposure, whether it's high temperatures or whether it's freezing temperatures." Despite the dire situation across the Middle East, Mahmoud remained optimistic that the region could adapt in a worsening climate. "Things are bad and things are amplifying because of climate change. But this region has naturally, for centuries and centuries, been in a state of heat and water stress," he said. "The region is capable of adapting and has for centuries. A lot of that obviously has to do with being more efficient with our water use." Madani agreed that the history of the region could hold some answers. "Persians survived for thousands of years in the dry part of the world by using different technologies of groundwater extraction. And they had laws and institutions and settings that were working. "Through the process of modernisation, if you will, they disrupted that old system." But he was pessimistic about Iran finding a way out of the crisis any time soon. "You have decided to fight the world … those who lose are the people of Iran, the ecosystem of Iran, the nature of Iran. "That means more deforestation, mining pollution, sand and dust storms, desertification, rivers drying up, declining aquifers, and that's what we see. It's very sad."
CTV News
31-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
This city could run dry ‘within weeks' as it grapples with an acute water crisis
The Amir Kabir dam in Iran's northern Alborz mountain range on June 1, 2025. Many of the country's dams are at alarmingly low levels. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource) Iran's capital Tehran could be weeks away from 'day zero,' experts say — the day when taps run dry for large parts of the city — as the country suffers a severe water crisis. Key reservoirs are shrinking, authorities are scrambling to reduce water consumption and residents are desperately trying to conserve it to stave off catastrophe. 'If we do not make urgent decisions today, we will face a situation in the future that cannot be solved,' President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a cabinet meeting Monday. Water is inherently short in supply in this arid nation. The difference is this crisis is hitting the capital, said Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. Tehran, home to around 10 million people, could run out of water altogether if consumption levels are not reduced, experts fear. 'We are talking about a possible day zero within weeks,' said Madani, who previously served as the deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment. The roots of the crisis lie in a tangle of factors including what engineers describe as decades of poor water management and an increasing imbalance between supply and demand. It's all compounded by climate change. Iran is experiencing one of its worst droughts on record, and its fifth consecutive year of drought. The country is also baking under brutal heat. Temperatures spiked above 122 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the country this month, according to climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera. 'Iran seems almost perennially in a record-heat status,' he told CNN. In response to the crisis, authorities have reduced water pressure in Tehran by almost half, affecting around 80% of households, the governor of Tehran Province Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said Monday. For people living in tall apartment buildings, that can mean no water supply at all. One man who lives on the 14th floor in Tehran says his taps often run dry. Water is being delivered to the capital by tankers, and residents who can afford it are rushing to install storage tanks, Madani said. 'We have never had a situation like this… this is new to Tehran.' Last week, the Iranian government declared a one-day public holiday in Tehran Province, as well as other regions across the country, in an effort to save water and electricity. It's now considering giving people in Tehran a week's public holiday, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said in a press briefing Monday, in hopes people will temporarily leave the city, cutting water demand. Water experts point to mismanagement as a big factor in the crisis. Human activities, including excessive groundwater pumping, inefficient farming practices and unchecked urban water use have pushed the region 'toward what can only be described as water bankruptcy,' said Amir AghaKouchak, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine. Madani echoes this. It is 'water bankruptcy, because it's not a crisis anymore… (it's) a situation where some of the damages are irreversible,' he said. In Tehran, so much water has been pumped from aquifers to support its increasing population that parts of the city are sinking, sometimes by more than 10 inches a year. The capital 'is grappling with a systemic, long-term imbalance that threatens the very foundations of water security for its residents,' AghaKouchak told CNN. Climate change is making a bad situation much worse. Iran has seen a more than 40% decrease in rainfall this year compared to the long-term average, and the Tehran Regional Water Company says dams that supply the capital are at about 21% of their capacity, according to Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency. All but one of Iran's 31 provinces are experiencing water stress, said Iran's energy minister Abbas Aliabadi, as reported by Mehr News. When asked about the possibility of water rationing, he said: 'I hope this does not happen.' Experts say there are no easy answers to this crisis. The government is opting for 'band aid' measures, such as new water transfer projects, Madani said. Technical solutions such as desalination and wastewater recycling must be part of picture, he added, but 'these address the symptoms for a while without curing the cause.' He advocates for a wholesale overhaul of the economy to move away from water-intensive agriculture — which currently accounts for about 90% of Iran's water use — toward services and industry with a much lighter water footprint. This kind of reform is likely to be painful and costly, both economically and politically, and highly unlikely under the current government and given the sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and others, he said. Ultimately, the roots of the crisis are not just environmental or technical but 'deeply political and systemic,' AghaKouchak said. 'Iran's water crisis cannot be separated from its broader governance crisis.' For now, the country is waiting for the fall and hoping it will bring rain. 'If Tehran survives until the end of September then there is hope for avoiding day zero,' Madani said. Written by Laura Paddison, CNN
The Hindu
16-06-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink
World Environment Day was celebrated on June 5. It was a moment to reflect on the fragility of our planet and how collective action can help protect it. The theme for this year's day was 'Beat Plastic Pollution', a problem which the United Nations estimates costs between $300 billion and $600 billion annually but is perhaps also one of the most fixable environmental challenges we face. More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year worldwide, and less than 10% is recycled. An estimated 11 million tonnes end up in lakes, rivers, and seas annually. Microplastics find their way into food, water, and air. We must continue to increase levels of recycling, but the simplest way to tackle the issue is to try and avoid single-use plastics. Last year, I began exploring a related challenge: Could Bengaluru's consumers reduce their reliance on bottled drinking water if they had greater confidence in the quality of alternative sources? The idea for this project came one morning when, while driving to a meeting, I realised that my water bottle was empty and that I would struggle to fill it up anywhere without making a detour. I began to think how, in a city which was once known for its lakes, it can sometimes seem disproportionately difficult to access safe drinking water outside the house without resorting to a plastic bottle. Around the world, bottled water consumption continues to grow rapidly. According to a UN University report, bottled water sales have now surpassed half a trillion litres annually, driven in large part by concerns around water safety and the reliability of alternatives. Yet with this convenience comes a cost: the environmental burden of single-use plastic. Having begun to dig into this field, and reflecting on the incredible talent which calls Bengaluru home, I started considering whether there was a way in which technology could help address this problem. The U.K.-India relationship can be based on mutual interest. We can learn from each other, especially on climate and sustainable development. The U.K. is working with India in providing expertise through programming; partnering with India on science and technology; providing support on climate finance; and collaborating on initiatives on renewables, green power connectivity, and adaptation. Over the past six months, the U.K. has partnered with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment to better understand this issue, specifically in Bengaluru. Focusing initially on water sources in restaurants and through consumer research and testing, we now have a body of evidence that confirms that some consumers choose bottled water because of the uncertainty around the quality of other sources. Our research has highlighted how, if consumers had access to reliable data about water quality, many would feel more confident choosing alternatives to bottled water. Consumer fears around the quality and consequences of drinking non-bottled are justified, as many water samples tested during this research fell short of the standards for safe drinking water. So what does this mean? We know that around the world, plastic has both an environmental and social cost — we see it on our streets and even in wild spaces such as our national parks. We routinely drink filtered water at home because we are confident that the system is being effectively maintained. We know that drinking sufficient water and staying hydrated is essential to maintaining our long-term health and we are witnessing how the manufacturers of filters systems, designed to clean water at the point of use, are increasingly using technological solutions to allow consumers to track their water consumption; and provide data on when their filters should be serviced. Making this same information available outside the home — for example, by communicating the maintenance status of filters and displaying it in restaurants, malls, or offices — would help ensure consumers have peace of mind when drinking filtered water. By bridging this gap in trust, Bengaluru, which is renowned for innovation, could lead the way in reducing our dependence on plastic. In doing so, we would not only ease the burden of plastic waste but also set an example of how local solutions can feed into global progress. James Godber is the Deputy Head of Mission at the British Deputy High Commission, Bengaluru
TimesLIVE
09-06-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Mashatile's overseas trips spark fury as costs soar to R8m
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has raked up close to R8m in expenditure on international trips since taking office in July 2024. This was revealed in a parliamentary response which showed that Mashatile visited countries like the UK, Ireland, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Japan, his latest trip. Mashatile's recent working visit to Japan cost more than R2.3m. The trip, which took place from March 16 to 19, was described by his office as strategically important, aimed at deepening political, economic and social ties between South Africa and Japan. The revelation came in response to a parliamentary question from ActionSA MP Lerato Mikateko Ngobeni, who requested a complete breakdown of all official travel undertaken by Mashatile since assuming office on July 3 2024. According to the presidency the Japan visit marked the first high-level engagement between South Africa and Japan in a decade. The trip coincided with the two countries celebrating 115 years of diplomatic relations and took place at a time when Japan remains South Africa's fourth-largest trading partner. The presidency also revealed that during the visit Mashatile and his delegation engaged Japanese political leaders, business executives and development institutions in an effort to attract investment and reinforce co-operation in key sectors. Among the highlights of the visit were meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and chief cabinet secretary Yoshihama Hayashi, a keynote address delivered at the UN University in Tokyo and a tour of the Isuzu Fujisawa plant, which has operations in South Africa. The deputy president also met with the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) and participated in discussions with the Japan-AU Parliamentary Friendship League. Talks also took place with leading Japanese economic organisations including the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), Keidanren, and the Association of the African Economy and Development in Japan Committee (AFRECO). These engagements focused on sectors such as manufacturing, energy, mining, agriculture and the automotive industry. Mashatile was accompanied by several ministers and deputy ministers, including minister of sport, arts and culture Gayton McKenzie; minister of agriculture John Steenhuisen; minister of higher education Dr Nobuhle Nkabane; minister of trade, industry and competition Parks Tau; deputy minister of international relations and co-operation Thandi Moraka and deputy minister of science and innovation Nomalungelo Gina.
