Iran International
Water levels in Tehran’s reservoirs have dropped to the lowest levels in years, research by Iran International based on satellite images from the European Union’s Sentinel program shows.
The research concentrates from 2017 to summer 2025, on reservoirs like Amir Kabir (Karaj), Lar and Latyan in Iran.
Newly released images show that in no previous period has the decline in water reserves at these reservoirs been as severe as in the summer of 2025.
“This could be summed up in one term: water bankruptcy,” Kaveh Madani, head of the United Nations University's Water, Environment and Health Institute said after observing the satellite images.
“The situation is not merely a crisis but a state of failure, as some of the damage is irreversible,” Madani added.
Amir Kabir Reservoir, one of the key sources of drinking water for Tehran and agricultural use in Alborz Province with a storage capacity of over 200 million cubic meters currently holds only about six percent of its usable volume.
Tehran on the brink of thirst
Iran has recently faced an unprecedented heatwave, and many natural and engineered water reservoirs across the country particularly in Tehran, Alborz and Fars provinces are nearly depleted.
In the capital Tehran, officials have attempted to curb consumption through emergency measures, including repeated water and electricity outages and temporary office closures on certain days.
"While dams have played a major role in development and cannot be completely dismissed, the overreliance on these structures and the absence of sound policymaking have been grave mistakes,” Madani said.
"You cannot keep expanding Tehran forever and expect the skies to keep raining or the aquifers to keep producing water,” Madani added.
Lar Reservoir, with a capacity of about 960 million cubic meters, supplies drinking water to parts of eastern and northern Tehran. Its reserves have now fallen below 10 percent.
Water scarcity, infrastructure erosion
Latyan Reservoir, another key source for eastern Tehran is now operating at just about 10 percent of its 95 million cubic meter capacity. In addition to drinking water, the reservoir also plays a role in seasonal flood control, and its sharp decline poses multi-dimensional risks.
The drop in Latyan Dam’s reservoir level has severely impacted both drinking water supplies and the ecological functioning of the surrounding system.
Exposure of policy failures
The satellite images reveal go beyond a seasonal drop. Tehran traditionally sources around 60 to 70 percent of its drinking water from the Lar, Latian, and Amir Kabir reservoirs. The simultaneous depletion of all three—coupled with the overdrawn state of groundwater resources—has placed the capital at risk of a systemic water crisis.
"The dramatic reduction in water volumes at Tehran’s reservoirs is not just a passing warning, but evidence of a structural failure in the country's water resource management,” said Roozbeh Eskandari, an environmental researcher.
“If this trend continues, the capital could face widespread drinking water rationing, loss of agricultural land, further depletion of aquifers and even social unrest,” Eskandari added. “The crisis is the result of a complex interplay of climate change, uncontrolled consumption growth, and poor governance in the water sector.”
Iran consumes about 100 billion cubic meters of water each year—more than twice Turkey’s usage, despite similar populations. Around 90% goes to agriculture, 6% to households and the rest to industry.
Per capita household water use is similar to Turkey’s, but Iran recycles only about 20% of wastewater, compared to 85% in Turkey, 95% in the United Arab Emirates and 98% in Germany.
Despite a UN “red warning” 25 years ago, Iran expanded hydropower rather than wastewater treatment.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has built over 60 dams in recent decades. More than half are now empty, with hydropower generation operating at just one-third of its nominal capacity.
Hydropower’s share in Iran’s electricity mix has fallen below 5%. Meanwhile, 80% of untreated wastewater is dumped into rivers, deserts and underground wells, contaminating the very sources Iran increasingly depends on.
Agriculture: high consumption, low output
The agricultural sector accounts for nearly all of Iran’s water use but contributes just 11% to GDP. Most farming still relies on flood irrigation.
In contrast, Turkey has reduced agriculture’s share of national water use from 75% to under 64%, while doubling the value of its agricultural output, which now stands at $60 billion, 13 times higher than Iran’s.
Perhaps more staggering, Turkey has achieved that using only a third of what Iran uses annually for farming.
Overextraction is reducing Iran’s groundwater reserves by 5 billion cubic meters annually. In Turkey, by contrast, aquifer recharge rates exceed extraction by a factor of three.
Drought is real, so is bad policy
Past policies pushing grain self-sufficiency worsened the problem.
In 2014, a deputy agriculture minister dismissed claims that farming consumed over 90% of the country’s water—insisting on continuing the strategy despite mounting environmental costs.
Iran, like many countries in the region, faces rising water stress.
Last year’s rainfall totaled around 400 billion cubic meters, but 70% of it evaporated, compared to a 50% loss in Turkey, which saw 537 billion cubic meters of precipitation.
Official figures show Iran’s dam reserves are just 46% full nationwide, and only 13% in the capital region. Turkey’s dam levels are at 57%, down from 70% a decade ago.
Both countries experience erratic rainfall but Turkey’s investments in water recycling, storage and irrigation have helped stabilize its system. Iran’s have not.
Iran’s water crisis isn’t simply the result of climate stress. It’s the consequence of institutional neglect, poorly prioritized infrastructure, and refusal to heed decades of expert warnings.
While others adapted, Iran doubled down on wasteful practices and political denial. The result: a deepening crisis, no longer possible to blame on nature alone.