In Iran, water scarcity is caused by high climatic variability, uneven distribution of water, over exploitation of available water resources, and prioritization of economic development.Madani, Kaveh. "Water management in Iran: what is causing the looming crisis?." Journal of environmental studies and sciences 4.4 (2014): 315-328. It is further exacerbated by climate change.
Iran suffers from ground water depletion. From 2002 to 2017, the nationwide groundwater recharge declined by around −3.8 mm/yr.
According to Saemian et al. (2022) Iran lost about 211 ± 34 km3 of its total water storage (> twice Iran's annual water consumption) within the 2003–2019 period.
Water scarcity can be a result of two mechanisms: physical (absolute) water scarcity and economic water scarcity, where physical water scarcity is a result of inadequate natural water resources to supply a region's demand, and economic water scarcity is a result of poor management of the sufficient available water resources.
Rainfall is highly seasonal, which led to the government building dams to ensure a more consistent water supply. Despite this, water availability has declined since the 20th century whilst demand has increased. By the 2010s, authorities and the United Nations were describing it as a crisis and it contributed to protests in the country.
According to a survey, the majority of Iranians blame the water crisis on mismanagement and inefficiency.
The severity of the problem
According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), Iran ranks among the most water-stressed countries in the world. The country falls under the "extremely high" category on the Water Stress Index, where 80% to 100% of renewable water resources are withdrawn annually. This means Iran is utilizing nearly all of its available water supply for agriculture, industry, and domestic use, leaving little to no buffer for periods of drought or variability in rainfall. +BackgroundLand Area1,531,595 km2Water Area116,600 km2Geographic Coordinates32.00 N 53.00 EClimateMostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coastIrrigated Land95,539 km2Population83,024,745GDP (per capita)$20,100Internal renewable water resources89 BCM(Billion Cubic meters)Drinking Water SourceImproved: 96.2% Unimproved: 3.8%Sanitation Facility AccessImproved: 90% Unimproved: 10% In July 2025, Iranian experts and senior officials issued severe warnings regarding the country's water situation. Dr. Banafsheh Zehraei, a professor of water resources management at the University of Tehran, warned of an "apocalyptic" scenario in the water sector, stating that only two to three weeks remained to prevent the final disaster of a nationwide drinking water shortage. She also identified the lack of coordination between responsible institutions as one of the main obstacles. Professor Ezatollah Raisi Ardakani warned that Iran no longer has water reserves to withstand years of drought, and that agriculture in the country has become completely dependent on annual rainfall. He placed responsibility on the government for the dire condition of farmers and for the failure to properly implement agricultural insurance.
In this context, Abbas Aliabadi, the Minister of Energy, referred to the situation as a "water crisis" and emphasized that Tehran is facing its worst water resource situation in the past 100 years. He also warned that the eastern and southeastern regions of Tehran Province would run out of water within a month due to the withdrawal of the Mamloo Dam from the supply system. The New York Times addressed the issue, stating that Iran is on the brink of an unprecedented crisis in its water resources, a crisis that could lead to the complete depletion of the capital's water reserves and the collapse of vital infrastructure within just a few weeks.
A survey conducted in September 2025 found that 75% of Iranians blame the water crisis on "domestic mismanagement and inefficiency," while only 14% attribute the crisis to natural factors and just 4% to international sanctions.
Climate
Rainfall in Iran is highly seasonal with a rainy season between October and March that leaves the land extremely dry for the remainder of the year. Immense seasonal variations in flow characterize Iran's rivers. For example, the Karun River in Khuzestan carries water during periods of maximum flow that is ten times the amount borne in dry periods. In numerous localities, there may be no precipitation until sudden storms, accompanied by heavy rains, dump almost the entire year's rainfall in a few days. Water shortages are compounded by the unequal distribution of water. Near the Caspian Sea, rainfall averages about per year, but in the Central Plateau and in the lowlands to the south it seldom exceeds .Helen Chapin Metz, ed., Iran: A Country Study. Washington:GPO for the Library of Congress, (1987) Chapter "Water". Iran's susceptibility to high variation in temperature and precipitation has led to the creation of dams and reservoirs to regulate and create a more stable water flow throughout the country.
Climate change
Iran's overall climate has become drier over the past several decades. Precipitation levels have dropped by about 20-25% in key regions, exacerbating the water crisis. The decline in rainfall and increasing temperatures have pushed the country toward rapid desertification. The Zayandeh Rud River in Isfahan is a striking example. It has dried up multiple times over the last decade, resulting in extensive damage to agriculture.
Iran is expected to have a mean temperature increase of 2.6 °C and a 35% decrease in precipitation within the next few decades. This could potentially exacerbate current drought and crop production issues.
Drought Iran is an arid and drought prone country with increasing vulnerability to this natural hazard. Water scarcity and drought issues are among the biggest challenges facing the country. The severity of drought episodes during 1999 to 2001 was immense as it affected to varying degrees 26 provinces and over half the population of the country.
Lake Urmia crisis Once the largest saltwater lake in the Middle East, Lake Urmia has shrunk by 90% since the 1970s due to dam construction, agricultural water diversion, and climate change. Although efforts to restore the lake have been made since 2013, Lake Urmia's decline remains one of the most visible signs of Iran's water crisis. In 1997, the lake's area covered approximately 5,000 km2 but shrank to 500 km2 by 2013. Restoration projects have helped recover some of the lake, but challenges persist.
Environmental Challenges Environmental issues such as decreasing rainfall, low precipitation levels due to climate change have aggravated Iran's water scarcity in recent years. In 2017 precipitation levels decreased by 25 percent, felt even in historically water-rich areas in the country's north and northwestern areas. This has contributed to the reported reduction of water entering Iran's dams by 33 percent, from 32 billion cubic meters (BCM) of surface water in 2017 to 25 BCM in 2018.
Water resources
Water availability Internal renewable water resources are estimated at 89 billion cubic meters (BCM)/year. As a result of previous droughts and overexploitation of available water resources, the per capita water availability has been reduced to 1100 m3/year today with 85 million inhabitants. Surface runoff represents a total of 97.3 BCM/year, of which 5.4 BCM/year comes from drainage of the aquifers and thus needs to be subtracted from the total. Groundwater recharge is estimated at 49.3 BCM/year, of which 12.7 BCM/year is obtained from infiltration in the river bed and also needs to be subtracted. Iran receives 6.7 BCM/year of surface water from Pakistan and some water from Afghanistan through the Helmand River. The flow of the Arax river, at the border with Azerbaijan, is estimated at 4.6 BCM/year. The surface runoff to the sea and to other countries is estimated at 55.9 BCM/year. Per capita, water availability in the pre-Islamic Revolution era was about 4,500 cubic meters. In 2009, this figure was less than 2,000 cubic meters.
Water usage Iran's reliance on groundwater has led to unsustainable extraction rates. The Iranian Ministry of Energy estimates that the country loses 5 billion cubic meters of groundwater annually due to over-extraction. Over the last five decades, Iran has depleted around 70% of its groundwater reserves, and this overuse has led to severe land subsidence in various regions. For example, Tehran subsides at a rate of up to 25 cm per year, indicating the collapsing aquifers beneath the capital city. Nevertheless, the water scarcity issue in Tehran is not uniformly experienced across the city. There are significant disparities between neighborhoods. Wealthier northern districts of Tehran have significantly benefited from greater investments in water infrastructure, resulting in more advanced distribution systems and enhanced storage facilities. In contrast, the less affluent neighborhoods often depend on outdated or inadequate infrastructure.
The total water withdrawal was estimated at 70 BCM in 1993, rising to 96 BCM in 2018, of which 92% was used for agricultural purposes, 6% for domestic use and 2% for industrial use. Although this is equal to 51% of the actual available renewable water resources, annual abstraction from aquifers (57 BCM in 1993, 53 BCM in 2004) is already more than the estimated safe yield (46 BCM). Of the 4.3 BCM/year in 1993 (6.2 in 2004) used for domestic purposes, 61% is supplied from surface water and 39% from groundwater.Seyed Ali Mamoudian, Secretary of the IWA National Committee for Iran: "Iran. Water and wastewater management across the country", IWA Yearbook 2008, p. 28 For example, Greater Tehran with its population of more than 13 million is supplied by surface water from the Lar dam on the Lar River in the Northeast of the city, the Latyan dam on the Jajrood River in the North, the Karaj River in the Northwest, as well as by groundwater in the vicinity of the city. Provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Isfahan have the highest efficiency of irrigation with 54, 52 and 42 percents respectively, and Khuzestan province has the lowest irrigation efficiency with 38 percent. Tap water consumption in the country is 70% over and above the global average.Kayhan:Changing Old Habits, quoting the leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in his 2009 Norouz message 16 BCM of water was used for power generation in 1999.
As of 2014, Iran is using 70% of its total renewable freshwater, far above the upper limit of 40% recommended according to international norms.Bijan Rouhani & Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian:Iran's Imperiled Environment , Payvand News, January 2014
The Qanats About 2,500 years ago, Iranians invented a number of ways to use groundwater, including a water management system called qanat. The qanats, which are still used today, are a series of underground tunnels and wells that transport underground water to the surface. They supply about 7.6 billion cubic meters or 15% of the country's total water needs and play an important role in advanced water harvesting. However, many of these systems have been abandoned and replaced by other methods over the past few decades, mainly due to socio-economic conditions and changing water extraction technology. In addition, the drilling of deeper and shallower wells has damaged the quality of groundwater, especially in the coastal area of the Central Plain of Iran, which has consequences for the environment, people, and economy of Iran. Therefore, it is necessary to recommend and implement methods to increase the efficiency of qanats to achieve sustainable development in water resources management.
Water pollution