Iran's Water Council has approved a 700-billion-rial budget for replenishing underground water resources in the country. According to the Ministry of Power, underground water resources are in critical condition and require immediate action to recover.
The deputy power minister Hamidreza Janbaz told Mehr News Agency that in some regions, one hundred percent of underground water resources are being used, which allows no opportunity for renewal.
Janbaz told Mehr that 50 percent of the country's water supplies rely on underground water adding that 80 percent of underground water resources are currently in critical condition.
He declared that in many areas underground waters have been tapped into for farming without appropriate ministry permits which needs to be halted immediately.
Drying of lakes, wetlands and underground water resources are one of Iranian administration's chief challenges.
