Oil, gas and Iran economic analyst
Officials in Tehran blame drought and public overuse for Iran’s worst water shortage in living memory, but the crisis stems from decades of mismanagement, short-sighted policy and institutional denial.
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.
With temperatures topping 40°C in Tehran and nearing 50°C in the south, many now face all-day water cuts—or near zero pressure—and frequent power failures.
Dozens shared their experiences with Iran International, highlighting the scale of the crisis and its toll nationwide.
“This is a big prison called Iran that has neither water nor electricity,” said a woman from Fardis, a suburb of Karaj.
“Water outage again… People have reached the breaking point. Do something before it’s too late, you irresponsible officials!” another woman pleaded.
A man in Tabriz sent footage of a kitchen sink filled with unwashed dishes. “There has been no water for 12 hours,” he said, ending his message with: “Death to the Islamic Republic, death to Khamenei.”
Even Gilan—a lush, northern province with over 1.2 meters of rainfall—has seen outages, challenging claims that drought alone is to blame.
No water, no power
Low pressure is compounding the crisis. In many buildings, only the lower floors receive water—barely.
Some residents install private pumps to reach upper floors, but these depend on electricity, which is also being cut.
“The lower floors have low-pressure water, but the upper floors, even with a pump, have none,” wrote journalist Maryam Shokrani on X.
A refrigerator technician in Tehran said he hadn’t been able to test appliances for over a week. “There’s either no electricity or no water to check if the cold water and icemaker work,” he said.
Small businesses without backup systems are especially affected.
More than a drought
Officials blame the crisis on “unprecedented drought.” Iran is in its second-driest year in five decades, with rainfall down 43% from last year. Key dams, especially those feeding Tehran, are critically low.
Government data shows 24 of 31 provinces are under “water stress,” including major cities like Tehran, Mashhad, Tabriz, and Isfahan.
In response, the government shut down or shortened hours at offices and banks in several provinces on Wednesday, citing peak demand. Spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said closures may continue.
Visions gone dry
Experts say the real roots lie in chronic mismanagement, flawed policy, and decades of unsustainable water use in agriculture and industry.
Since 2000, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has called for population growth and food self-sufficiency in crops like wheat and rice—both highly water-intensive. In a 2021 speech, he reiterated that producing wheat, corn, and barley domestically was “both necessary and achievable.”
Experts argue these goals have worsened shortages, particularly in arid regions.
In Yazd, among Iran’s driest cities, officials have permitted sturgeon farming—a water-heavy industry—to produce caviar for export. The city has also grown rapidly due to industrial expansion.
Now, Yazd is locked in disputes with Isfahan over scarce water, highlighting how poor national coordination is fueling provincial rivalries. Both cities are major industrial hubs, making the stakes especially high.