Gradual Reduction of Agricultural Water Withdrawal an Effective Step in Adapting to Water Scarcity in Iran

In recent decades, Iran has witnessed a noteworthy surge in agricultural water consumption due to population growth, economic development accompanied by irrigated agricultural lands, and changes in dietary habits. Unfortunately, the ratio of consumption to renewable water has consistently exceeded four times the threshold of water stress for several decades.  A recent analysis of annual groundwater depletion using the GRACE satellite observations was estimated to be about 15.9 BCM/year, significantly higher than the previously estimated value of 4.7 BCM/year obtained using the conventional estimation methods. In fact, this research estimated that the accumulated depletion of groundwater supply in 2021 could be more than 350 BCM, contrary to the reported amount of 143 BCM. Despite the severity of the situation, water consumption in Iran has not been adequately reduced to balance the low recharge rate of its water resources.  In fact, by building many dams and digging many wells, more water than the share of the environment has been consumed. To prevent environmental severe water stress or consumption of 60% of renewable water, a 44% reduction in agricultural water consumption is necessary. However, achieving this significant reduction in agricultural water consumption, it poses several social and economic challenges, such as gaining the consent and cooperation of farmers to participate in reducing water usage, ensuring accurate measurement of water delivery, securing sufficient foreign currency for importing agricultural products, creating alternative job opportunities for farmers, and leading to a significant increase in the price of agricultural products.