Iran Daily 17 April- A large number of projects are being implemented in the water sector nationwide, said energy minister on Monday.

Speaking in the inaugural ceremony of the project of desalinating and transferring water from the Caspian Sea to the central plateau in Goharbaran region of Sari, Mazandaran province, Majid Namjou said that once all the projects become operational, water industry will witness a significant development, IRNA reported.

He said that the largest concrete dam of the country with the height of 315 meters will be inaugurated in a ceremony attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The minister stated that several giant water projects were implemented in the sector during the past Iranian year (ended March 19) which was unprecedented.

Namjou stated that inauguration of new dams helped increase water reserves by 12.5 billion cubic meters.

He noted that currently construction of 50 dams, 23 power plants as well as implementation of 26 water supply projects are underway nationwide.

Referring to the serious global climatic changes, he said that each year, Iran faces water shortage.

Namjou said earlier that implementation of water desalination projects in the northern and southern parts of the country is among the targets of his ministry for the current year.

Once water desalination projects come on stream, the desalinated water will be supplied to coastal and central provinces of the country, he noted.

The minister stated that Energy Ministry is determined to reduce water consumption in the agricultural sector by 10 percent.

Namjou noted that the most important document of the past 100 years in the water sector, was signed during President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Tajikistan, pointing out that based on the agreement Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan are authorized to use each other’s water resources.

He noted that the Energy Ministry will extend support to domestic contractors and producers of equipment required by the ministry.

In January, the managing director of Iran Water Resources Company said with four dams becoming operational in addition to the other 11 dams commissioned in the year to March 19, 2012, the water storage capacity of the dams will increase by some 3.2 billion cubic meters.

Mohammad Hajrasouliha said Machkund dam in Sistan-Baluchestan province, Shamil and Banan in Hormuzgan province, Darungar in Khorasan Razavi province and Baghgol in Esfahan province are the four dams which were supposed to come on stream in the remaining days of the year to March 19, 2012.

Commenting on the storage capacity of Tehran province’s dams with respect to precipitation, he said, given the favorable rainfall in the past year which was 70 percent higher than average, the storage capacity of the province’s dams reached 644 million cubic meters, indicating a 38-percent growth compared to the figure for the same period a year ago, which was 466 million cubic meters.