goal of this program was to reduce fossil fuel
consumption and its environmental effects. As a
result, approximately 10,000 wells have been
outfitted with electric pumps annually, and under
a special tariff for agriculture, electricity consumption has dramatically increased over the last
Fig. 1 The trend of well expansion in Iran during the last 40 years Source Iran Energy Balance Sheets 1973-2013
(MOE), Water Base Study Organization 2016 (IWRM)
Table 1 Number of wells, groundwater extraction, restricted aquifers for further well drilling, and the share of water
used for agriculture in total
Year No of
confined
wells
Groundwater
extraction
(million m
3 )
No of
unconfined
wells
Groundwater
extraction
(million m
3 )
Extraction
from springs
and qanats
(million m
3
)
Total
groundwater
extraction
(million m
3 )
No of
restricted
aquifers
(from total
609)
Share of
water used
for
agriculture
(%)
1976
16656
7473922
42242
3883147
13007.88
24364.95
90
1985
45355
19114.83
119068
9486163
16905.45
45506.43
93
90
1991
75995
26152.26
179527
11882.66
15921.59
53956.51
146
90
1995
90008
27226.07
246258
11472.86
27195.14
65894.07
174
90
1996
100062
28895.79
273890
12975
29393.84
71264.63
176
90
1997
102032
29037.98
276230
12830.1
28430.32
70298.4
90
2000
112789
30655.29
301945
13327.37
28201.26
72183.92
195
90
2003
127800
31434.85
330269
13977.59
29201.21
74613.65
211
90
2013
200859
34544.85
569708
12163.87
18223.53
64932.25
297
88
Source Water Resources Base Studies Bureau of IWRM (WRBS), website: http://wrbs.wrm.ir/ (last access 10.8.2017)
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