TEHRAN: Iran has halted electricity production at one of its largest dams after a significant drop in reservoir levels, state media reported on Saturday, highlighting the deepening impact of the country’s worst drought in six decades.
Amir Mahmoudi, head of the Karkheh Dam and its power plant, told IRNA that all generating units have been taken offline as the water level has fallen far below the threshold required for power production. The dam’s reservoir currently holds around one billion cubic metres of water, with levels standing at 180 metres — nearly 40 metres below the operational minimum.
To meet the essential needs of downstream communities, authorities have begun releasing water through the dam’s lower valves.
The Karkheh Dam, built on the Karkheh River and located about 22 kilometres northwest of Andimeshk in Khuzestan province, is considered one of the world’s largest earthen dams and the biggest of its kind in Iran and the Middle East.
The shutdown underscores the severity of Iran’s ongoing drought, which experts say is among the most extreme the country has experienced in over 60 years.
By AFP
