Hydropower generation at the Amir Kabir Dam in Karaj, west of Tehran, has stopped after storage fell to 25 million cubic meters, while lawmakers warned that several provinces could soon face acute drinking water shortages.
The Amir Kabir Dam, inaugurated in 1960 as Iran’s first multipurpose dam, is now at its lowest level in more than six decades of operation. Once vital to supplying Tehran province, it currently holds only about 14 percent of its 205 million cubic meter capacity, according to the Iran Water Resources Management Company.
“At present, nearly 86 percent of the reservoir is empty,” the agency said in its latest assessment, citing low inflows from upstream rivers and continued extractions for urban, agricultural, and environmental needs.
A year ago, the dam contained around 111 million cubic meters of water, with the long-term seasonal average closer to 120 million cubic meters. The year-on-year comparison reflects a 76 percent decline in stored volume.
Hydropower operations were suspended earlier this autumn when levels fell below 28 million cubic meters, disabling the facility’s turbines. Officials said the dam has not yet reached its “dead storage” level of 10 million cubic meters, below which the water becomes unusable.
Tehran’s main reservoirs are nearing depletion. Government figures show that 19 major dams nationwide are operating at below 20 percent capacity.
Growing alarm over nationwide shortages
In central Iran, Isfahan officials warned that the city’s water crisis has grown beyond provincial boundaries and could soon affect several regions.
Mohammad-Taghi Naghdali, head of Isfahan’s parliamentary delegation, said the situation required “a national commitment and cross-provincial coordination.” A task force known as the “water command” has been established to pursue solutions, he added.
“We have exhausted all legal and parliamentary means to stop unauthorized withdrawals,” Naghdali said. “If action is delayed, the entire country will face a grave catastrophe.”
Experts have cautioned that decades of overconsumption, mismanagement, and uneven rainfall have left Iran’s reservoirs critically depleted, threatening both electricity production and drinking water supplies nationwide.
