Reducing water consumption is the only way to prevent the transformation of “cow land” into a desert

According to the social reporter of Moj News Agency, Gavkhoni International Wetland with an area of ​​47 hectares is located in the southeast of Isfahan. Currently, Gavkhoni is not doing well, and the drought that the lagoon was struggling with for two decades has now reached a point where, according to Mansour Shihferosh, the director general of Isfahan Governorate Crisis Management, the process of drying has reached 99%.

Unfortunately, the creation of an ecological management plan for the Gavakhuni wetland to preserve the wetland has not resulted in a confused tangle of the watershed. Zayandeh Rood River It has become so complicated that despite the existence of industries, agriculture and drinking, preserving the life of this wetland, which has been life-giving for the central plateau of Iran for a long time, does not seem to be a priority for the province and the country.

In this regard, Elaha Mohadi, senior expert the environment He told Moj news agency: The water resources of Zayandehroud, the beginning of which is the Zayandehroud dam and the end of which is the Gavkhoni wetland, are a total of about one billion cubic meters, which, including the transfer of water from the Kohrang 1 and Kohrang 2 tunnels, reaches about one billion and 200 million cubic meters .

He continued: In addition to agriculture, industry and drinking in Isfahan province, the consumption of Zayandehroud catchment area also includes Yazd and Kashan, and its total consumption is more than two and a half billion cubic meters. This means that water consumption in Zayandeh Rood is more than twice its resources.

This environmental expert believes that due to this high consumption of water, not only water does not reach the Gavkhoni wetland, but many water users in agriculture are upstream of the Gavkhoni dam and they do not have access to water downstream of Isfahan city.

Mowhedi stated: In this basin, consumption is very high, and not only all the cities of Isfahan province get their water from Zayandehrud, but also in Yazd and Kashan provinces, water consumption from Zayandehrud has been defined.

He added: “A lot of water consumption has been defined for Zayandehrud, and therefore the water of the Gavkhoni lagoon does not reach.” Even if it is a very good water year, the year 1401-1402 was one of the golden years of Isfahan province and the rainfall we had in the province was about 30% to 40% higher than the normal average. .

The senior environmental expert pointed out that no matter how much water comes, it is still caught in high consumption, and said: The water released from the Zayandehroud dam is about 16 cubic meters per second, while half of this water reaches the Baba Sheikh Ali treatment plant. The other half goes to the upstream orchards in Chaharmahal Bakhtiari province on the way.

He continued: In order to restore the Gaukhoni wetland, only 140 million cubic meters of water is needed, which is one-sixth of the water resources of Zayandeh Rood. In order for the water to reach the Gaukhoni wetland, 300 million cubic meters of water must pass under the Zayandeh River bridge, and half of it will reach the wetland.

In response to whether the transfer of water from the Sea of ​​Oman can lead to the revival of Zayandehrud, Mowhedi said: the water transfer line from the Sea of ​​Oman to Isfahan, which has been proposed, is about 200 to 300 million cubic meters and is very small and cannot be used to compensate for the difference between the sources. and compensate for water consumption in Isfahan.

This environmental expert explained about the solutions for the restoration of Gavkhoni: What should be done to restore the Gavkhoni wetland is to reduce the consumption and not only stop but also reduce the loading. Meanwhile, in Isfahan, a plan has been made to build 300,000 new residential units, which shows that we are not only not reducing the load, but we are moving in the opposite direction.

He emphasized: Loading should be reduced and many water-consuming and even low-water industries should be moved to the shores of Makran along with their workforce. The burden of development in the central desert of Iran should be reduced and the development of industry and population should be expanded in Makran coast.