Iran: Water reservoirs are drying up, possible evacuation of Tehran

The water reservoirs that supply drinking water to Iran's second largest city, Mashhad, have dried up and have less than three percent of their reserves, local media reported today.

Iran is facing its worst drought in decades this year, and in Tehran the low rainfall is "practically unprecedented in the last hundred years," a local official said in October.

Of Iran's 31 provinces, 15 have not received any rain this fall, leaving Mashhad's water reserves at less than three percent, the head of the city's water company, Hossein Esmailian, told the Isna news agency.

It is estimated that there are about 40 million cubic meters of water in the reservoirs from the Mashhad dams, while, at this time a year ago, there were about 189 million cubic meters of water, according to local media.

In Tehran, the situation is particularly critical, given that the city is supplied with water from five reservoirs, one of which is completely dry, and the others have about eight percent of reserves, according to government data.

The government announced yesterday that it would periodically cut off water supplies at night to conserve water.

President Masoud Pesekian warned on Thursday that Tehran could be evacuated due to a lack of rain before the end of the year, without specifying how he would implement the action.

In Iran, 19 major artificial lakes are currently dry, accounting for about 10 percent of the country's reserves, the Mehr news agency reported in October.