War-battered grid meets a Tehran water emergency
Rolling blackouts and reservoirs near 5% collide with a sixth drought year, as Pezeshkian warns the capital could run dry and even floats evacuation
Summary
As summer heat hits a grid weakened by the war, Masoud Pezeshkian's government faces rolling blackouts and a Tehran water emergency. The government announced rolling power cuts in May, with outages reported up to about 4 hours a day and water cuts in some cities exceeding 24 hours. Tehran's reservoirs are reported near 5% of capacity, the Karaj Dam below 10%, in a sixth consecutive drought year with inflow to the capital's dams down roughly 40% and rainfall about 81% below the historical average. Pezeshkian has warned Iran's capital could run out of water by September or October "if people do not cooperate," and earlier floated the extraordinary option of evacuating Tehran. The government calls the rationing "nightly pressure cuts." The crisis feeds the same protest anger that marked the winter unrest — and compounds a recovery whose financing is unresolved.
By the numbers
- ~5% — reported capacity of Tehran's reservoirs; Karaj Dam below 10%.
- ~4 hours/day — reported power outages; some cities' water cut 24+ hours.
- 6 — consecutive drought years; inflow to Tehran's dams down ~40%.
- ~81% — rainfall below the historical average.
Why it matters
Water and power are where the war and the drought meet the household. A capital warned it could run dry, and a grid strained by reconstruction, turn an environmental crisis into a political one for a president already boxed in by the IRGC and dependent on a stalled rebuild. The "Day Zero" warnings are the sharpest near-term threat to social stability.
What to watch
- Whether Tehran's water actually runs critically short by autumn.
- Protest activity as blackouts and cuts intensify through summer.
- Any emergency measures, or the evacuation idea resurfacing.