Tehran is facing an escalating water crisis as dammed reservoirs drop to critical lows, a senior sanitation official said, with rainfall and dam inflows reduced by nearly half leaving most of the capital’s reservoirs nearly depleted.
“Rainfall has dropped 40% and dam inflows 42%, leaving most of the capital’s five dams near dead storage. Only Taleghan Dam remains relatively stable,” Abbasali Mosarzadeh, CEO of Tehran’s Sewage Company cited on Tuesday as saying by official media.
“Tehran’s reserves in October fell to 258 million cubic meters, 227 million less than last year," he added. These figures were cited by Iran’s Water Resources Management Company.
The crisis extends far beyond the capital. Nationally, water reserves have fallen to alarming lows, with Iranian energy officials acknowledging that 19 of the country’s major dams are operating at below 20 percent capacity.
Independent reporting by Iran International based on satellite data showed Tehran’s Amir Kabir reservoir at roughly 6 percent of usable volume in July, with the Lar and Latyan reservoirs also at historic lows.
Groundwater depletion is worsening the picture. Research cited by Iranian geoscience institutes shows parts of Tehran sinking by more than 10 centimeters a year due to subsidence.
Agriculture, which consumes about 80 percent of the country’s water according to government and international environmental assessments, remains highly inefficient, further straining supplies.
Experts warn that without sweeping reforms in consumption and water management, Iran risks deeper shortages, environmental collapse, and growing public unrest.
The legislation, formally titled the “Intensification of Punishment for Espionage and Cooperation with the Zionist Regime and Hostile States Against National Security and Interests,” was passed by parliament in late June following the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.
The Guardian Council, a powerful 12-member body of clerics and jurists that vets legislation and elections in Iran, initially sent the bill back in July citing ambiguities, but said after revisions it no longer conflicted with Islamic law or the constitution.
The measure classifies espionage or intelligence cooperation with Israel and the US as “corruption on earth,” a charge under Iran’s penal code that can carry the death penalty.
It also criminalizes providing information, media content or assistance to groups deemed hostile, with prison sentences ranging from two to 15 years depending on the offense.
Supporters say the law is needed to counter infiltration and disinformation. “Any cooperation in media or propaganda activity, including sending videos or images to hostile channels that weaken public morale or create division, undermines national security and will face severe judicial response,” said Ebrahim Azizi, a former Revolutionary Guards commander and head of parliament’s national security committee.
The bill follows the June conflict in which Israeli airstrikes targeted Iranian nuclear and missile sites, prompting Tehran to retaliate with hundreds of missile and drone launches.
Iranian authorities later announced the arrest of hundreds of people accused of spying for Israel and the US.
Rights advocates have expressed concern that the law’s broad definitions, including provisions applying retroactively, could restrict free expression and be used against journalists and activists.
Authorities confirmed this week that the MamlouDam, one of five major reservoirs supplying the capital, has fallen below usable levels.
Only 8% of its 250 million cubic meter capacity remains, with storage at 19 million cubic meters -- below the “dead volume” threshold of 28 million.
The facility, built in 2007 east of Tehran, is officially out of operation for the first time, leaving the capital more reliant on other reservoirs already at historic lows.
The crisis extends far beyond Tehran. In northwestern Iran, Lake Urmia, once the Middle East’s largest saltwater lake, has lost more than 90% of its volume and surface area.
Environmental experts warned on Wednesday that “salt storms” from the dried lakebed are beginning to hit surrounding provinces, damaging crops, raising health risks, and prompting what officials describe as the early stages of forced relocations from nearby towns and villages.
Lawmakers acknowledge that years of mismanaged agriculture, unchecked groundwater pumping and weak enforcement of water-use reforms have accelerated the decline.
“The lake is like a critical patient in intensive care,” said Reza Hajikarim, head of Iran’s Water Industry Federation, warning that existing plans were not implemented to save the lake. He urged rapid cuts in water-intensive farming and enforcement of ecological water rights, saying “we do not need new solutions, only execution of the old ones.”
“Salt storms from Lake Urmia have now begun, and evacuations are starting in provinces surrounding the lake. The salt storms and rising temperatures caused by the sun’s reflection are among the consequences of Urmia’s desiccation, undermining life and habitability in the region. This is only the beginning,” he added.
Social strains are mounting. In recent weeks, a violent clash over irrigation rights near Urmia left one dead and 13 injured, highlighting how scarcity is fueling local disputes.
Similar unrest erupted earlier this year in central Iran, where farmers damaged a pipeline transferring water from Isfahan to Yazd. Rights groups say protests over blackouts and dry taps in cities such as Sabzevar were also met with arrests and tear gas.
Experts stress the problems are largely man-made. Climatologist Nasser Karami has described the situation as an “engineered drought,” arguing that mismanagement, subsidies for water-intensive crops, and expansion of militarized agriculture -- not climate alone -- lie at the root.
Agriculture consumes over 85% of Iran’s water while contributing less than 12% of GDP, and exports such as pistachios and melons remain state priorities despite groundwater depletion.
Other ecosystems are also under threat. Officials warn that Anzali Wetland on the Caspian coast faces collapse without $300 million in restoration funds, after decades of sewage, sediment and pollution inflows.
Iran’s Meteorological Organization says the country has endured two decades of near-continuous drought, but specialists argue that structural reforms -- diverting water from agriculture to households, modernizing irrigation, reducing waste, and enforcing groundwater limits -- could stabilize supplies.