Drinking Water in Tehran May Run Out in Two Weeks, Iranian Official

The main source of drinking water for residents of Tehran is at risk, as it could be depleted within two weeks due to a historic drought affecting the country, Al Jazeera reports.

Amir Kabir Dam, one of five reservoirs supplying drinking water to Tehran, "currently holds only 14 million cubic meters of water, which constitutes eight percent of its capacity," said Behzad Parsa, director of the capital's water supply company. He warned that at this level, it could continue to supply water to Tehran for only "two weeks."

The country is experiencing the worst drought in decades. Precipitation levels in Tehran province were described as "almost unprecedented for a century" by local officials last month. A year ago, Amir Kabir Dam held 86 million cubic meters of water, Parsa stated, adding that rainfall in the Tehran area has decreased by "100 percent."

Parsa did not provide details on the condition of other reservoirs in the system. According to Iranian media, the population of Tehran consumes approximately three million cubic meters of water daily. In order to conserve water, supply has been cut off in several neighborhoods in recent days, with frequent outages reported this summer.