#ِAhwazna – Destructive drought ravaging Ahwazi regions

"Ahwazna"

The water diversion projects for transmission water from tributaries of Ahwazi Rivers to the rest of Iranian regions are considered the most destructive plans that the Iranian regime has ever sought to implement them on the ground during the past three decades.

In the past ten years, the dire impacts resulting from the projects are now casting dreadful shadows on Ahwazi citizens in all aspects of life especially environmental and economic factors.

The intensive and random construction of dams led to widespread drought in the Rivers of Ahwaz where this region has abundant water resources due to the presence of permanent flowing rivers such as Karoon, Karkheh, and Dez.  However, the water levels of these rivers declined markedly since 2004.

Ever since, the water level of Dez, Karoon, and Karkhe rivers has respectively fallen by 65%, 45%, and 50%.

This is a dangerous indicator because under such condition Ahwazi Arab farmers are no longer able to irrigate their lands easily and recently the crisis of water shortage came to a degree where Ahwazi Arab farmers have been warned by the Department of Agriculture not to cultivate their lands in this season of year.

It must be noted there are many   rural and urban areas such as Khafajah, Howezeh, Albesetin and Hamidieh are situated nearby Karkheh River where farmers of these regions are facing serious unemployment crisis after their failure in cultivating their arable lands.

This problem is due to shrinking of the water levels of the rivers inflicting adverse impacts on the agriculture sector of these regions which are famous for the cultivation of wheat and barley crops.

The inexcusable dam construction projects, which resulted in water shortage and almost the dryness of rivers, have forced Ahwazi farmers who are dependent on rivers for irrigation their lands to seek for other means of living.   The dramatic decrease in the amount of the water level in the rivers is directly linked to the excessive dams set up by the Iranian Occupation state.

  According to statistics, the available water  in Ahwaz is estimated up to 24 billion cubic meters of which 5billion cubic meters is flowing in the Karkheh River, but the utilized quantity is only 700 million cubic meters and this amount of water cannot cover the needs for irrigating all the arable lands through this river.

Some studies carried out by a number of experts suggest every loss of billion cubic meters of water from the rivers leads to water shortage for irrigation of around 6,500, hectares of arable lands as well as these experts, emphasize that more than 40% of losses of the farming lands is alone as a result of high salinity levels following the low water level in the river Karkheh.

 The persistent of lack of water for irrigating the lands surrounding the Karkheh River would lead to humanitarian and environmental catastrophes. These regions are mainly dependent on the waters of this river, for drinking agriculture, and energy purposes and other uses as well. Thousands of wildlife species and organisms also live in and around the waters of the river. There is no doubt that the effects of this shortage and drought will be clearly visible in all aspects of life, particularly in the areas of agriculture, animal husbandry, and fishery. Decreasing water levels and drought will affect an increase in desertification and a decrease in green areas in urban and rural areas, and climatic and environmental changes will take an acute turn for the worse, all of which would negatively affect the lives of citizens in Ahwaz.

Main source: http://www.padmaz.org/من-كارون-الى-الكرخة-الجفاف-يجتاح-الأح/#