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Iran is in the grip of a devastating drought. Water levels in Iran's dams, rivers and lakes are at record lows. It's partly been caused by searing heat, but as the country's president acknowledged, government mismanagement has also played a role. Officials are now warning that the capital, Tehran - a city of around 10 million people - could run out of water within weeks. NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam reports.
JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: Iran has been plagued by severe heat, drought and water shortages for the past five years, but this summer has been the worst.
KAVEH MADANI: Right now this situation is extremely, I would say, stressful. And honestly, there is no quick fix.
NORTHAM: Kaveh Madani is a water expert and a former senior official with Iran's Department of Environment in 2017 and '18. He describes the situation in Iran as water bankruptcy, where severe shortages are causing irreparable damage.
MADANI: Lake Urmia in northwest Iran - one of the largest hypersaline lakes of the world - is now almost completely dry.
NORTHAM: Madani, now with the United Nations water research institute in Canada, fled Iran after being detained several times and accused by hardline elements of the regime of being a Western spy for speaking out against the Iranian government's mismanagement of water.
MADANI: We go across the country. We see different dead water ecosystems and shrinking lakes, and then the groundwater level is very low in many places.
NORTHAM: Part of the problem is Iran is just in a really hot area of the world, says Susanne Schmeier with IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands. She says there are also misguided strategies. For example, more than 90% of Iran's water is designated for agricultural use, which contributes only a tiny share to the country's economy.
SUSANNE SCHMEIER: And that stems largely from a policy that has been there for decades - in this government after the revolution, but even before by previous governments already - to focus on food self-sufficiency.
NORTHAM: Schmeier says droughts over the past years are forcing more farmers into the cities, putting a strain on already overstretched urban water supplies. Tehran relies on dams, a reservoir and groundwater, which are now dangerously low. Schools, government offices, even public bathrooms are closed. The government recently announced 12-hour water cuts under certain circumstances. That hasn't gone over well with people like Mehrsa (ph), a 45-year-old office worker living in Tehran.
MEHRSA: (Through interpreter) This is terrible. And when the water comes back on, it is mixed with rust and dirt and it has a bad smell. You have to let it flow for half an hour, an hour, till it runs clear. That's wasting more water.
NORTHAM: Mehrsa, who asked that NPR doesn't use her full name out of fear of retribution by the regime, says Iranians can't rely on the government to solve the water problem.
MEHRSA: (Through interpreter) They don't consider themselves responsible for anything. They are incapable of even running a kindergarten. They've just wasted our country's water reservoirs.
NORTHAM: Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, recently acknowledged there were problems with water.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).
NORTHAM: There have been protests, like these shown on social media. Schmeier, who specializes in the effects of water on stability, peace and conflict at IHE Delft, says the water crisis could threaten the stability of the regime. Just last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video, appeared to urge Iranians to rise up against the regime in exchange for help.
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PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: The thirst for water in Iran is only matched by the thirst for freedom. So here's the great news. The moment your country is free, Israel's top water experts will flood into every Iranian city, bringing cutting-edge technology and know-how.
NORTHAM: Schmeier says the government could mitigate the problem by reconsidering its food self-sufficiency strategy and investing in new technology and infrastructure. That's challenging under the crippling sanctions regime. But Schmeier says it will take strong political will, which is difficult when mismanagement and corruption run rampant.
SCHMEIER: Decisions over infrastructure are not necessarily always taken with, let's say, environmental or social considerations in mind, but more political, economic, financial and so on.
NORTHAM: And, of course, there's Mother Nature, who could deliver much-needed rain. But Schmeier says even then, the soil is so dry, the water could just run off because Iran lacks a good water storage system.
Jackie Northam, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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