15 September 2012
Irrigation and drainage networks will expand to 130,000 hectares during current Iranian year (to end March 2013), said the head of the Water Resources Management Company.
Mohammad Haj Rasouliha told IRNA on Friday that once financial resources are secured, the country can build irrigation and drainage networks for 265,000 hectares of land.
He added that Iran established 58,000 hectares of irrigation and drainage systems on average during the fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2005-2010). The figure rose to 85,000 hectares during last Iranian year (ended March 19), he added.
He said if the dams were not constructed, 20 megacities could have witnessed water rationing this year.
It was not possible to secure water for metropolises such as Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Arak, Tabriz, Bushehr, Zahedan, Bandar Abbas, and Hamedan without using dam water resources, he pointed out.
Haj Rasouliha continued that the volume of water reservoirs grew by eight billion cubic meters this year and that water flow from dams rose by 14.5 percent.
The official also said nine provinces face severe water crisis this year, while 13 provinces face water challenge.
Only eight provinces including Semnan, Qazvin, Alborz, North Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan are in a acceptable position in terms of water resources, he concluded.
In April, energy minister said a large number of projects are being implemented in the water sector nationwide.
Speaking in the inaugural ceremony of the project of desalinating and transferring water from the Caspian Sea to the central plateau in Goharbaran region of Sari, Mazandaran province, Majid Namjou said that once all the projects become operational, water industry will witness a significant development.
Irrigation and drainage networks will expand to 130,000 hectares during current Iranian year (to end March 2013), said the head of the Water Resources Management Company.
Mohammad Haj Rasouliha told IRNA on Friday that once financial resources are secured, the country can build irrigation and drainage networks for 265,000 hectares of land.
He added that Iran established 58,000 hectares of irrigation and drainage systems on average during the fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2005-2010). The figure rose to 85,000 hectares during last Iranian year (ended March 19), he added.
He said if the dams were not constructed, 20 megacities could have witnessed water rationing this year.
It was not possible to secure water for metropolises such as Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Arak, Tabriz, Bushehr, Zahedan, Bandar Abbas, and Hamedan without using dam water resources, he pointed out.
Haj Rasouliha continued that the volume of water reservoirs grew by eight billion cubic meters this year and that water flow from dams rose by 14.5 percent.
The official also said nine provinces face severe water crisis this year, while 13 provinces face water challenge.
Only eight provinces including Semnan, Qazvin, Alborz, North Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan are in a acceptable position in terms of water resources, he concluded.
In April, energy minister said a large number of projects are being implemented in the water sector nationwide.
Speaking in the inaugural ceremony of the project of desalinating and transferring water from the Caspian Sea to the central plateau in Goharbaran region of Sari, Mazandaran province, Majid Namjou said that once all the projects become operational, water industry will witness a significant development.
© Iran Daily 2012
