Kalantari: Water in Iran has passed the crisis stage, and the country's soil is in a critical condition

Isa Kalantari, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization, criticized the country's sixth development plan, calling such programs 'imposed' and stating that they do not consider the capacities of Iran's water and soil. According to Tasnim News Agency, on Sunday, December 10, at the 'World Soil Day' conference held at the Ministry of Agriculture, Kalantari stated that Iran, with its limited water and soil capacity, can no longer produce enough products for its 80 million population. He added, 'In the country, we have consumed more than our resources, and as a result, the soil is heading towards bankruptcy just like water.' The head of the Environmental Protection Organization referred to the country's higher laws, saying, 'Imposed laws like the sixth plan have been forced beyond existing capacities and are not compatible with the available resources in the country, to the extent that we use resources without regard to the principle of sustainability.' Iranian governments have always declared one of their announced goals as self-sufficiency and increasing the production of strategic agricultural and livestock products. Such policies have been pursued through dam construction and the use of groundwater in Iran. However, in recent years, with a lack of rainfall, climate change, and excessive use of surface and groundwater, many regions of Iran are facing extreme drought. Article 31 of the sixth development plan states, 'The government is obliged to take measures to ensure food security and achieve self-sufficiency in essential products, strengthen and complete production chains, develop exports, and improve the productivity of agricultural water and soil.' According to the Water and Wastewater Protection Systems Office, the number of legal and illegal wells in Iran is close to 750,000, of which 330,000 are illegal and in prohibited plains. Meanwhile, according to government sources, even from licensed wells, water is illegally extracted above the permissible limit. On the other hand, contradictory policies have led to a decrease in groundwater. For example, while the Hamadan plain has been designated as a prohibited plain, a power plant has been built in this area that requires deep wells. On the same day, Kalantari also criticized population growth incentive policies, stating, 'Let's not say we are a big country! Our resources are limited; we must import the remainder of our needs, and if we intend to increase the population, this increase must be conditional on imports.' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, is the main supporter of population growth in Iran, and 'increasing children, reducing the age of marriage' are principles of the general population policies he communicated to the heads of the three branches of government on May 19, 2014. Kalantari had previously warned, like many experts, that 'if water consumption in the country is not reduced, Iran's 8,000-year-old civilization will be destroyed.' The head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization also criticized the budget line of this organization, saying, 'The entire budget of the Environmental Protection Organization is less than the non-refundable aid from the government to two free zones.' On Sunday, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, presented the 2018 budget bill to the parliament. According to this bill, the total expenditure amount of the Environmental Protection Organization is estimated at 89 billion and 610 million tomans, and the total capital assets of this organization is estimated at 273 billion and 512 million tomans.