According Laura Paddison from CNN Climate, "Tehran, home to around 10 million people, could run out of water altogether[...] within weeks." It will become the first city in the world to fully run dry. However, droughts are not that only answer behind this water crisis, so this article will explore the various factors that have led to the alarming discovery and what this event means for emergency response in environmental affairs.
Tehran's History
Iran, as a whole, has been experiencing five consecutive years of drought, and on top of that, temperatures have reached 149 degrees this summer! However many of the reasons behind this catastrophe is due to human activities:
Excessive groundwater pumping: Over-extraction of groundwater from aquifers is the greatest factor in this crisis. Behind these demands for extractions are from agricultural institutions and industrial management.
Location: Tehran is located on a highly hazardous seismic zone and is located "over 1,000 meters above sea level", causing the region to have scarce freshwater to begin with
Poor water management policies: Tehran lacked funding in water management for years. Prioritizing financial incentive over sustainable practices, the government directed its attention to the agriculture sector (which is the largest consumer of water resources by 90%). This caused heavy subsidization of water prices, leading to farmers to find an incentive for collecting water-intensive crops and straining watr resources tremendously.
Urbanization: Rapid urban growth in Tehran has transformed land that once allowed groundwater to easily seep back into aquifers, replacing it with concrete, roads, and buildings. With so many natural areas now paved over, much less rainwater can filter down to recharge the city’s underground water reserves. This shift has made it even harder for Tehran to recover from drought and excessive water use, putting even more pressure on its already scarce supplies.
The Race Against The Clock
With the pressure of running bone dry deep in their minds, authorities have reduced water pressure in households "by almost half, affecting around 80% households. Water tanks have been loaded in and out from outside regions to help support communities. Additionally, the government has evacuated people out of the city, advising them to take time off of their job in order to not compromise citizens.
Public messaging campaigns now flood airwaves: conserve every drop, reuse when safe, avoid leaks, and boil questionable water before drinking. Officials urge households to cut showers short and reuse cooking water for cleaning. Still, anxiety runs high as families navigate the prospect of living—possibly for weeks—without reliable running water. At the same time, engineers and emergency planners are racing to install temporary infrastructure. Rapid repairs are underway for old pipes and leaks. However, these projects will try to benefit Tehran in the short term, causing the core problems to remain to be fixed.
The Future
Quick, tense emergency responses are essential, but not sufficient. There is an urgent need for reform—in government water management, infrastructure investment, and agricultural policy—to ensure water security for such high population density cities. Tehran may be the first major city to face this crisis, but unless sweeping reforms take hold, it won’t be the last.
As climate extremes become the new normal, we must learn from Tehran’s challenges and move beyond reactive measures. True water resilience calls for collaboration—between governments, engineers, and the regular people themselves, bound together with the intent to act and change the places we call home for the better.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/31/climate/tehran-iran-water-crisis-day-zero
https://www.renewablematter.eu/en/subsidence-tehran-is-sinking-the-hidden-cost-of-water
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/514137/Iran-s-population-growth-rate-plunges
https://niacouncil.org/tehrans-water-crisis-a-nation-on-the-brink/
