How Did a City of 10 Million People Nearly Run Out of Water? |
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Guest Essay
By Peter Frankopan
Dr. Frankopan is a professor of global history at Oxford and the author of “The Earth Transformed: An Untold History.”
Earlier this month Tehran, a city of 10 million people, was questioning its viability. After six years of drought and the driest autumn in over 50 years, the reservoirs that supply the city fell to around 10 percent of capacity, and in some cases lower still. In late November and early December rainfall was down by roughly 90 percent, compared with historic averages. City residents faced rolling water cuts, sharply reduced tap pressure and pleas from officials to limit washing.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, announced in November that if rains did not come, parts of the city would need to be evacuated. Thankfully, rain eventually fell around Tehran, easing immediate pressure on water supplies. But the city came too close to disaster. There is no reprieve from the danger of taps running dry, and the prospect of more rain appears........