Global Rundown
- Tehran, the capital of Iran, faces a potential Day Zero scenario within two weeks as leaders pledge not to restrict water to industrial users.
- Blatten, the Swiss village destroyed this spring by a melting glacier and landslides, will be rebuilt in the same valley despite climate concerns.
- Dozens of exploratory wells will be drilled at a mine near Death Valley, the latest project to place aquifer health at risk as the U.S. continues to push for energy dominance.
- Facing acute water shortages, a small town in southwest Manitoba is bringing an old water source, known to be contaminated with arsenic, back online.
The Lead
The Amir Kabir dam, the main source of drinking water for residents of Tehran, Iran, is sitting at just 8 percent of its capacity and is at risk of running dry within two weeks.
Amid historic drought, the region has experienced a “100 percent drop in precipitation” over the past year, Al Jazeera reports. In the months-long buildup to a potential Day Zero scenario, the Iranian government has initiated frequent water cutoffs, including the sudden announcement of two public holidays this summer in an effort to conserve water. In recent days, water service has been restricted in several Tehran neighborhoods.
Across the country, according to Radio Farda, more than 60 percent of Iran’s important dams “have less than half of their water capacity,” and “continuous drought has brought wetlands and large lakes such as Urmia, Bakhtegan, Gavkhuni, and Hamun to the brink of destruction.”
The capital’s metropolitan area has a population of 17.8 million people.
Close observers frequently attribute the ongoing crisis to poor infrastructure and mismanagement. Earlier this year, farmers in central Iran protested the government’s decision to divert river water from agricultural users, in favor of industry.
This week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country “must seriously reconsider our consumption of water, electricity, and gas,” while also pledging not to cut off any resource to industrial users, state media reports.
In Context: Iranian president says country is on brink of dire water crisis
Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue
- Traces of Old Farm Chemicals Contaminate Water Across the U.S. — No surprise: The Trump administration doesn’t want Americans to know they’re there.
- What It Means For Water and Resources When Trump Budget Cuts Hit Home — U.S.D.A. halts $20 million in Northern Michigan conservation projects.
This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers
$600 million
The expected total cost, including both construction fees and insurance payouts, of rebuilding the town of Blatten, which in May was decimated by landslides after a melting glacier in the Swiss Alps collapsed, The New York Times reports. The disaster was indicative of how changing climate regimes are rapidly altering land and frozen water sources in Europe’s alpine environments. Switzerland has warmed twice as fast as the global average, and its glaciers have lost more than 40 percent of their ice volume between 1980 and 2016. But for those whose families have lived in the town for generations, these trends are not enough to make them move. Blatten will be restored in the same valley in which it has stood for hundreds of years, with the first residents expected to return to their homes by late 2026.
43
Exploratory wells the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will allow to be drilled near a clinoptilolite mine located within five miles of Death Valley National Park, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The decision has sparked strong emotions from environmentalists, local governments, and members of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, whose reservation lands neighbor the project. All fear that the drilling will harm the Amargosa River watershed and those who rely on the aquifer for well water. Hydrologists say there is not enough available data to determine how wells will affect groundwater in one of earth’s hottest places. The Amargosa Conservancy and the Center for Biological Diversity, two nonprofit watchdogs, signed a notice of intent last month to sue BLM over their decision.
Meanwhile, the mine is another project in the Trump administration’s push for energy dominance, which focuses heavily on fossil fuels, mining, and nuclear power. Clinoptilolite is used to filter water in municipal facilities and remove isotopes from liquid waste dispelled by nuclear reactors, according to St. Cloud Mining, which operates the mine.
On the Radar
In the town of Virden, Manitoba, population 3,000, water shortages are forcing officials to tap an old water source “in which previous testing and historical data indicated the levels of arsenic exceeded the Canadian Drinking Water Guideline,” CBC reports.
Residents have been encouraged to seek out alternative sources, such as bottled water, as the town works to filter the contaminated water and find another supply. Long-term exposure to arsenic can increase cancer risk.
Concerns over the town’s dwindling supply of groundwater were raised five years ago, when taps began running dry soon after upgrades to Virden’s wells were completed.
“We need potable water,” Kathy Heaman, a Virden resident, told CBC. “We need to have answers.”
Wetland Watch
New Ramsar Sites: Three new sites have been added to the list of Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance, the convention announced this week: 3,160-acre Royal Thai Army Nature Education Center in Thailand; 455-acre Yemoji Lake in Nigeria; and 214-acre Gogabil Lake in India.
