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Iran Faces Widespread Land Subsidence Amid Escalating Water Emergency
In a worrying crisis that has gone largely unnoticed, Iran is facing widespread land subsidence at an alarming rate, exacerbating the country’s already precarious water situation. According to experts, the situation is so dire that it could have devastating consequences for the nation.
The unregulated extraction of groundwater, driven by Iran’s agricultural sector and urban demands, has led to a catastrophic loss of aquifer functionality. This, in turn, is causing land subsidence at an unprecedented rate, with some areas sinking as much as 31 centimeters per year.
Professor Farshid Vahedifard, a civil and environmental engineer at Tufts University, warns that if current practices continue unchecked, the consequences will be catastrophic. “This loss of aquifer functionality will not only reduce Iran’s long-term water security but also increase the frequency and severity of land deformation,” he stresses.
In an interview with Forbes, Amir Aghakuchak, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, highlighted the lack of political will within Iran to address these issues. The country’s ideological system has held back the growth of other economic sectors, leaving water scarcity as the primary focus. “Even in rare occasions where groundwater extraction limits exist, they are often poorly enforced due to judicial corruption and limited monitoring capacity,” he adds.
Iran sits on some of the most active fault lines globally, making it a hotspot for earthquakes. The combination of subsidence and seismic activity poses an existential threat to the nation’s infrastructure and population.
Professor Shideh Dashti from Boulder University in Colorado emphasizes that land subsidence can have devastating consequences on lifelines like transportation systems, water, wastewater, gas pipelines, and telecommunications. “Imagine a building that has already settled, experiencing tilt, cracks, and problematic connections to an adjacent road or connected lifelines- this building is then in a compromised state if it’s subject to the seismic waves from even a minor earthquake,” she says.
This crisis highlights the importance of addressing water scarcity and land subsidence head-on.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sanammahoozi/2025/04/19/iran-faces-widespread-land-subsidence-amid-escalating-water-emergency/
