when we look at the sources of the rivers that flow into khuzestan, the first thing we find is a network of canals, pipelines and tunnels that take the water to other provinces like kerman, isfahan, yazd, and as far away as qom. protests in january this year were a result of tensions over these water transfers. chanting. two provinces east of khuzestan were protesting over who takes how much water. after the water transfers, the rest of the water that flows into khuzestan is captured by a number of dams. on karun river alone, there is one, two, three, four, five dams built, one after another, and more dams on khuzestan s
that has changed. today, rivers are dirty or run dry. the great horolazim wetland has been drained for oil extraction. the environment and communities destroyed. iran s students news agency reports show that in villages across khuzestan, water is scarce. to understand these people s anger, we need to look at the rivers feeding the area, and the many demands made on them. this is khuzestan, lying in the south west of iran. it s a coastal province on the border with iraq. iran s longest and most well known river, the karun river, originates in the zagros mountain on the eastern side of khuzestan. there are four more rivers that also originate outside
not climate change. did climate change have a role? yes, to an extent, as a catalyst. but the iranians didn t consider water as a limit to growth and they continue developing and developing, thinking that with money and engineering, they can overcome the natural limitations. singing # there was a river, gather us together.# this musician is from khuzestan. for years, he has used social media to post songs in english and persian about water. singing in this video, he explores the karun river.
has gone down. you can clearly see those water marks. officially, they re saying that the water capacity is only 38%. in both the south west us and khuzestan, there s less rain and snowfall, and the reservoirs are running low. i put it to kaveh that surely climate change is key to water shortages everywhere, including iran. what is happening in iran today is the outcome of decades of bad management, poor environmental governance and a lack of foresight, not climate change. did climate change have a role? yes, to an extent, as a catalyst. but the iranians didn t consider water as a limit to growth and they continue developing and developing, thinking that with money and engineering, they can overcome the natural limitations. # there was a river, gather us together.
chanting. two provinces east of khuzestan were protesting over who takes how much water. after the water transfers, the rest of the water that flows into khuzestan is captured by a number of dams. on karun river alone, there is one, two, three, four, five dams built, one after another, and more dams on khuzestan s other rivers. in fact, iranian authorities have broken records over the numbers of dams they have built close to 650 dams in a span of a0 years. with so many dams controlling the supply of water, why do water shortages persist, both in khuzestan and right across iran? las vegas is one of the fastest