WATER POLITICS

Residents in the cities of Abadan and Khorramshahr in Khuzestan have staged several protest rallies over the past few weeks as they have faced problems due to the excessive salinity of the Bahmanshir river, which is the main source of potable water in both cities.

Last week, the Abadan Water and Sewage Department said water would be rationed in the city because of “the saltiness of the Bahmanshir river (reaching salt levels as high as those at sea), a stoppage in the extraction of water from the river and a drop in pressure levels.” The department announced that water rationing will continue until late July.

“The salinity of the Bahmanshir river has reached that of the sea, and water cannot be extracted from it because of excessive saltiness, which has caused a drop in water production in Abadan,” part of the department’s statement read. The same problem exists in Khorramshahr as well.

“The government is determined to solve the potable water problem in the cities of Abadan and Khorramshahr as soon as possible,” Iranian First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri said a few weeks ago.

“We should make every effort to improve water quality in Khorramshahr and Abadan before reaching the critical level,” said Gholam-Reza Shariati, the governor-general of Khuzestan province, a few days ago.