TEHRAN, Iran, November 18, 2025 — Iran is grappling with its most severe water crisis in six decades, a shortage so acute that President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned of possible evacuations if the drought persists. The capital, Tehran, and the second-largest city, Mashhad, are in dire straits, with major reservoirs reportedly operating at less than 5% and 3% capacity, respectively.
Authorities have begun implementing nighttime water cut-offs in Tehran as groundwater reserves are depleted, leading to social unrest and past protests in regions like Isfahan and Khuzestan.
Human-Made Crisis Deepened by Isolation
The crisis is primarily attributed to poor long-term management, not just climate change:
• Agricultural Overuse: Over 90% of Iran’s water is inefficiently used by the farming sector.
• Unsustainable Practices: The focus on dam-building has dried up major wetlands, including the vast Lake Urmia, whose exposed salt bed now poses a severe transboundary dust and sand threat.
• Infrastructure Damage: Excessive, unregulated groundwater extraction (including an estimated half-million illegal wells) is causing widespread land subsidence, cracking buildings and roads in historic cities like Shiraz and Yazd.
The authors note that Iran’s international isolation exacerbates the problem, as sanctions block access to crucial modern technology such as AI-based irrigation scheduling and high-resolution satellite monitoring that could dramatically improve efficiency and resource tracking.
The Path to Hope: Technology and Unified Governance
Despite the gravity of the situation, academics believe the crisis is solvable through fundamental changes:
• Short-Term Focus: Immediately implementing strict monitoring of wells using smart meters and employing satellite tools (like Grace and Sentinel) for real-time water accounting to guide emergency action.
• Long-Term Reform: Establishing a unified national water authority to align the conflicting goals of the energy, agriculture, and environment ministries.
• Economic Shift: Implementing legal caps on groundwater and diversifying the economy away from water-intensive industries are essential to stabilizing the country’s water systems.
The environmental crisis is human-made, and researchers conclude that with these necessary changes in governance and technology access, the solution is also within reach.