TEHRAN – Tehran's water resources condition has improved significantly due to recent rainfalls during the current water year (started September 23, 2018), so that water shortage in summer should be of no concern to the citizens, deputy director at Tehran Water and Wastewater Company has said.

“Currently, water overflowed the entire dams in the capital, now water is being partially discharged in order to control the amount of water in the dams,” Mohammad Reza Ahmad Nasab said.

Five major dams in Tehran are retaining 937 million cubic meters of water, which surpassed the last year’s amount of 675 million cubic meter by 39 percent, he stated.

Referring to the increased amount of water restored behind five major dams of Tehran compared to that of last year, he noted that water behind Karaj, Taleqan, Latian, Lar and Mamel dams have increased by 7.2, 39.9, 61, 17.3 and 26.3 percent, respectively.

Given that the amount of snow in the upstream was also much higher than the previous years, the amount of water entering the rivers is high; therefore, the dam’s outlets must be opened to release and regulate water flow, he explained.

He went on to say that snow depth in the Lar region was increased to 7.5 meters from six meters, which demonstrates the improvement of water sources in the capital.

“So, it is necessary to take measures to withdraw water from the dams feeding the underground aquifers and preventing probable damages,” he further added, ISNA reported on Tuesday.

However, dams will supply the water required in the whole summer without any shortages imposed on the residents, he highlighted.

Based on the latest data published on Monday by National Drought Warning and Monitoring Center affiliated to Iran’s Meteorological Organization since the start of the current water year the whole country received 294.9 millimeters of rain.

The number amounted to 133 millimeters in the previous water year and 209.9 millimeters in the long-term, the data indicated. The numbers show a drastic increase of 121.8 percent compared to last water year. It also reveals a 40.5 percent increase compared to long-term means.

Recent above normal rainfall resulted in a water year with highest precipitation rate in the past half-century, as all provinces exceeded their long-term means reported since the past 50 years.

Since the beginning of the current water year, 56.64 billion cubic meter of water entered the dams nationwide, which demonstrates 289 percent increase compared to the last year’s amount of 14.56 billion cubic meter.

Among 178 major dams in different provinces, 77 are filled by 90-100 percent, which constitute 54 percent of the total capacity of the country’s dams.

FB/MQ/MG