people in khuzestan face a water crisis. siavash ardalan, and i report on the environment for bbc persian. seeing people suffering, i wanted to understand what caused these water shortages. is it climate change or are there other factors? what is happening in iran today is the outcome of decades of bad management, poor environmental governance and a lack of foresight, not climate change. the bbc cannot operate freely inside iran, so i've pieced the story together using social media and visited the united states to see how they manage their water. wow, this is amazing! look how much the water has gone down. as iran and the rest of the world tackle water scarcity, i'll be asking — what can be done to improve the water supply for people in khuzestan? khuzestan has long been thought of as lush and green, with wetlands and diverse wildlife. its rivers used for leisure and agriculture. but over the last decades, that has changed. today, rivers are dirty or run dry. the great horolazim wetland has been drained for oil extraction. t

this musician is from khuzestan.post songs in english and persian about water. # now we stem deep. in this video, he explores the karun river. industry, agriculture, even hospital waste is dumped into the karun. for people in urban areas, sewage and sanitation are bigger water issues than supply alone. although official figures have never been released, according to unofficial estimates, a large portion of khuzestan�*s population is arab, and many of them blame poor water infrastructure on a long history of central government discrimination against the region. sitting on the border of iraq, people in khuzestan also felt the full force of the iran—iraq war in the 1980s. he shows his followers what the lack of water infrastructure means for people in their homes. he says the water from the main tap is only for washing, not cooking or drinking. waterfilters, tanks, water pumps — it all sounds very benign, but this is a daily reality in the lives of the people who live in the towns and cities of khuzestan. just a few mil

every year in khuzestan up world. sugarcane. more than any other crop in khuzestan. this strain on water supplies was forewarned by many, including in parliament 18 years ago. now retired, this man remains frustrated that the government is wedded to sugarcane rather than alternative crops that need less water. rather than reducing water demand, running in government is more focused on increasing water supply. one source of water supply. one source of water iran has turned to is the sea. iran is investing billions of dollars in an ambitious infrastructure project called the hope line. the intention is to provide and transfer desalination water across the whole country. they believe local desalination projects have potential benefits, but transferring large volumes of desalination water across the country is not sustainable. mil? country is not sustainable. why would you _ country is not sustainable. why would you use _ country is not sustainable. why would you use water _ country is not sustainable. “teeny would you us

the protests were triggered by water shortages in the southern province of khuzestan.