Lake Urmia Vanishes: Satellite Images Reveal Iran’s Water Crisis
Mohamed Hussein
Iran faces a severe water crisis driven by prolonged drought, reduced rainfall, and over-extraction. Lake Urmia has shrunk to less than 10% of its original size, and over 70% of villages are affected. The conflict with the US and Israel further exacerbates the situation.
Iranians now face a threat not only from war but also from water scarcity. Years of drought, declining rainfall, and unsustainable water extraction have pushed the country into a severe water crisis, depleting reservoirs, rivers, and groundwater. The US-Israel conflict has heightened tensions after reports of damage to desalination plants, pipelines, and civilian water infrastructure in the early weeks of the conflict.
According to the World Resources Institute, Iran is classified as facing ‘extremely high’ baseline water stress, consuming over 80% of its renewable water each year.
Lake Urmia, the largest salt lake in the Middle East, has shrunk from nearly 6,000 square kilometers in the 1990s to just 581 square kilometers—less than 10% of its original size. Causes include consecutive droughts, agricultural water use, river diversions, and groundwater extraction. More than 60 dams on feeding rivers have blocked flows, while farmers divert water into irrigation canals and decades of groundwater extraction have dewatered underlying aquifers. Rising temperatures have also accelerated evaporation.
Iran has consumed more water than its renewable supply for decades. In 2025, its 92 million people used about 100 billion cubic meters of water, nearly 13 billion cubic meters more than renewable sources. Agriculture accounts for about 91% of total water withdrawals, households 7%, and industry 2%. Much water is wasted due to inefficient, old irrigation systems.
Reservoirs around Tehran, such as the Lar, Latyan, and Mamloo dams, have seen critically low water levels. Drought and rising demand are straining the capital’s water system.
Water scarcity is reshaping where Iranians live. According to Iran’s Vice President for Rural Development, Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, only 38,000 of 69,000 villages remain inhabited, while 31,000 villages have been abandoned. About 27,000 villages, home to over 10 million people, are experiencing water shortages. More than 70% of Iran’s villages face a water crisis.
Residents are migrating to major cities like Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and Shiraz, but these cities are also under water stress. Tehran, with over 9 million people, is seeing growing strain on its water system.
The Zayandehrud River, one of central Iran’s most important waterways, is drying up. Satellite images show declining water levels at the Zayandehrud Dam after years of drought and over-extraction. The historic Allahverdi Khan Bridge (Si-o-Se Pol) in Isfahan now frequently overlooks a dry riverbed below.
Desalination meets only about 3% of Iran’s water demand, contrasting with Gulf neighbors that rely on it. Most desalination plants are concentrated along the southern coast on the Persian Gulf, serving coastal cities, while inland areas like Tehran and Isfahan depend on other sources.
