Rainfall Triggers Floods in Western Iran Amid Worst Water Crisis in Decades

Rainfall causes floods in parts of western Iran, after months of drought have led to the country’s worst water crisis in decades and pushed authorities to begin cloud seeding over the weekend.

The country’s meteorological organization issued a warning for flooding in six western provinces today and said it expected rain in 18 out of Iran’s 31 provinces, The Caspian Post reports, citing Reuters.

Rainfall levels across Iran are 85 percent below average, depleting reservoirs and causing taps to run dry including in parts of the capital, Tehran. Mismanagement, illegal well-drilling and inefficient agricultural practices have contributed to the crisis, which authorities say has also been intensified by climate change.

Iranian media shares videos of mild floods occurring in some towns of western provinces such as Ilam and Kurdistan.

On Saturday, Iran was able to perform its first cloud seeding this year above the watershed of Lake Urmia, in Iran’s northwest, and further north from the areas where flooding was reported, according to the Young Journalists Club (YJC).

Cloud-seeding is a process in which chemicals are implanted into clouds to increase rainfall in an environment where water scarcity is a concern.

However, the technique can only be applied when environmental conditions improve and can only be used as a stopgap solution.