Water scarcity in Iran

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. 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.

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