Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 14 /Trend, N. Umid/
Iran's capital city of Tehran faces a 40 million cubic meter water shortage, the Managing Director of Tehran Water and Wastewater Company Mohammad Parvaresh said, Iranian PANA news agency reported.
He went on to note that, Tehran's average rainfall during the last crop year (ended on September 22) reached 283 millimeters, which indicates a 32 percent fall compared to the preceding crop year's figure of 417 millimeters.
The figure also indicates a fall by 20 percent compared to the long-term period rainfall, Parvaresh added.
He also urged the citizens to decrease their water consumption.
Total water volume in Tehran's dam reservoirs reached 400 million cubic meters on September 22, while the figure at the end of the previous crop year (ended on September 22, 2012) stood at 650 million cubic meters.
He also underlined that, some 70 percent of the Tehran water consumption has been supplied by surface water sources and 30 percent from underground supplies.
Parvaresh said on July 21 that Tehran province's water consumption has increased by 11 percent in summer compared to previous year.
According to the reports, Tehran experienced water interruptions for a few hours in some areas in late July.
Alireza Nozaripour, an official with Tehran Water and Wastewater Company said in June that Iran's precipitation faced a 30-percent decrease in the previous solar year, which ended on March 21.
According to him, the reservoir of the country's dams has also decrease by 40 percent.
Water shortages have always been a pressing problem in Iran due to its arid and semi-arid climate, and droughts. As international sanctions clamp down on the country, this issue has gained increased importance.
Iran has experienced several droughts in recent years, especially in the south where it gets hit by violent sand storms that engulfed multiple cities.
