# Will the city of Teheran be abandoned next week, due to drought? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757 "2025-09-04T19:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/1 "2025-09-04T19:21:56Z")
A few weeks ago, I noticed a couple of astounding headlines. Iran is in critical trouble with water supplies, and its capital city may have to be abandoned within weeks. Since then, I haven’t seen any serious talk about what seems like a truly massive news story. Eight years ago, there was a water problem in CapeTown,South Africa, and a new phrase entered the language: “zero day”–meaning the day when there simply will be no water left in the reservoir, and the city will be unlivable. Cape Town is not a city of international importance, but the story was reported extensively, because it would have been a very important event—the first time in modern history that a city would have to be abandoned. But now, it appears to be happening again. And unlike CapeTown, Teheran is a city of international importance. Nuclear importance, in fact. A very large city (16 million population) and the capital of a near-nuclear power allied with Putin, proudly at war with the West. So–is this as huge a story as it seems to me? The facts seem scary. And the potential for serious political fallout would seem to be a major issue. Plus the simple physical challenge of 16 million people having to migrate. But there isn’t much discussion in the press. Here are some links: NPR headline, from 3 weeks ago: [\*\*Iranian officials warn Tehran could run out of water in weeks\](https://www.npr.org/2025/08/17/nx-s1-5500318/iranian-officials-warn-tehran-could-run-out-of-water-in-weeks-amidst-massive-drought\)\*\* NYTimes headline from 1 week ago: Tehran is at risk of running out of water within weeks (paywalled, so I quote one paragraph) [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/world/middleeast/iran-water-crisis-drought.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/world/middleeast/iran-water-crisis-drought.html) > [@](#): > > The Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company announced this week it had reduced water pressure to such low levels that in Tehran — a city of 10 million people, many living and working in high-rise buildings — water could not flow above the second floor of apartment buildings. And a RadioFreeEurope link from a week ago: > **[Tehran On The Brink: Can Iran Survive Its Water Crisis?](https://www.rferl.org/a/farda-briefing-water-shortage-iran-tehran/33482959.html)** > > This edition of the Farda Briefing looks at the worsening water crisis in Iran and its implications. > [@](#): > > President Masud Pezeshkian … “the continued survival of Tehran as the capital is no longer possible.” ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/2 "2025-09-04T19:59:03Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Cape Town is not a city of international importance, Say what? I could be wrong on this because it’s just based on the first numbers that came up on Google, but it looks like Cape Town handles more trade in a year than all of Iran. It seems pretty internationally important to me. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/3 "2025-09-04T20:01:39Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Cape Town handles more trade in a year than all of Iran. I wow…I didn’t know that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/4 "2025-09-04T20:31:23Z")
And Capetown wasn’t abandoned. It’s still going along just fine. @MrDibble and/or @scudsucker could tell us more about how the Capetown “zero day” event played out and the aftermath thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/5 "2025-09-04T20:50:58Z")
Also, it’s Tehran, not Teheran. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/6 "2025-09-04T22:35:46Z")
The lack of updates suggests imminent doom wasn’t quite as imminent, however bad the outlook. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Also, it’s Tehran, not Teheran. Well, [mostly](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/teherju01.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/7 "2025-09-04T22:38:43Z")
Well, technically, it’s تهران ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/8 "2025-09-04T22:52:17Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Also, it’s Tehran, not Teheran. I was wondering about this. Hebrew doesn’t use the Latin alphabet, so ‘Teheran’ can’t be just the spelling used in Israel. But the Israelis on the board consistently seem to spell it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/9 "2025-09-04T23:18:08Z")
It’s “Teherán” in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/10 "2025-09-05T00:45:58Z")
Wiki points out that Teheran was the common English spelling from ~1800 to the onset of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. At which time Tehran became the favored English spelling. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/11 "2025-09-05T01:12:51Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > So–is this as huge a story as it seems to me? > The facts seem scary. And the potential for serious political fallout would seem to be a major issue. Plus the simple physical challenge of 16 million people having to migrat It more or less falls into that “What can anyone else do?” category of internal issues. I mean, it’s not something anyone else did to Iran or Tehran, and it’s not something most other countries are able to help with, and the ones who could, like the US, are not interested. So whatever’s going to happen is going to happen, and it may or may not get reported in the news. Just like that earthquake in Afghanistan, nobody much cares. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/12 "2025-09-05T02:08:37Z")
> [@bump](#): > > It more or less falls into that “What can anyone else do?” category of internal issues. I assume even building an emergency pipeline, there are not a lot of nearby bodies of fresh water. I see a reservoir in the mountains(?) about 25 miles northeast, and another about 120 miles northwest. I presume the nearer one is the city water source that is running out? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/13 "2025-09-05T02:23:15Z")
Is [the water mafia](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/feeding-the-water-mafia-sanctions-relief-and-irans-water-crisis/) a big part of the problem? > [@md2000](#): > > I assume even building an emergency pipeline, there are not a lot of nearby bodies of fresh water. Iran has been exploring/building desalinization infrastructure for decades, but that apparently only goes as far as the pipelines do. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/14 "2025-09-05T02:54:16Z")
And where are they supposed to go? 16 million people is a lot of people. (D’oh!) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/15 "2025-09-05T03:03:40Z")
One thing about water is that use is highly elastic. You only _need_ about a gallon per day per person. The US uses 156 gal/day. India uses 38 gal/day. Mali uses 3. If things became truly desperate, it’s likely that there would still be enough water for survival. Plants would die, bathing would be rare, clothes would get dirty, and dishes would be wiped, not washed. Life would kinda suck. But probably few would die of thirst. Even in a big city like Tehran, you could even ship the water in by truck if required (a couple thousand per day). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/16 "2025-09-05T03:14:45Z")
And most water use is in industry. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/17 "2025-09-05T03:19:10Z")
Overall, agriculture. But food can be imported as well. Industry is typically #2, but if the choice is between having a job and having water to drink, the job can probably wait. You aren’t going to have a job if you’ve evacuated the city anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/18 "2025-09-05T03:38:12Z")
Actual population of Tehran is more like 10 million, metro area is 14 million. Still a lot of people, but not 16 million. /nitpick ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/19 "2025-09-05T03:43:30Z")
Looking at press accounts, 1949 was the tipping point in spelling where “Tehran” became the slightly more common spelling. However, by 1960 it was favored by almost 3:1, and by 1970, almost 5:1. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757/20 "2025-09-05T05:28:49Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Cape Town is not a city of international importance Ha ha ha. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > @MrDibble and/or @scudsucker could tell us more about how the Capetown “zero day” event played out and the aftermath thereof. We greatly reduced our already-low water usage, and explored other options like desalination and increased groundwater, and then the rains came. That’s about it. The aftermath is that even ordinary people are more aware of current water levels in dams and such, we’re very much now a culture of not unnecessarily flushing toilets, and water consumption has not risen to pre-crisis levels despite population increase. There were a couple of threads about it: > [@Cape Town water: impending crisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cape-town-water-impending-crisis/807004): > > After several years of drought, the tourist capital of South Africa is poised to [run out of water](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cape-town-drought-water-shortage-south-africa/) by late April. \*At the Voëlvlei Dam, water levels are critically low, sitting at less than 20 percent, reports CBS News’ Debora Patta. It’s one of Cape Town’s main sources of water – a source that it is on the brink of running completely dry within a matter of weeks.… Cape Town’s four million residents are now only allowed 23 gallons of water per person per day. Next month that goes down to 13 ga… > [@Is anyone paying attention to Cape Town?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-paying-attention-to-cape-town/808349): > > A city of 4 million is about to run out of water – like completely. Imagine if Phoenix or Houston ran of water. Imagine the insanity that would be ensuing. This is about to fucking happen, and it’s a warning to every city in every country from America to Australia. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-city-of-teheran-be-abandoned-next-week-due-to-drought/1022757.md?page=2)