The dewatering of Chamshir dam and its alarming biological consequences in the past days and weeks is one of the hot news in the environment sector; its results affecting Handijan, Mahshahr, and Shadgan in Khuzestan.
Mohammad Darvish is an environment activist and against dam construction in Iran, who is trying to establish a common understanding of the importance of preserving the environment, among the people and the politicians. He is one of the most active patrons of promoting education about nature, introducing methods for curbing violence to the environment of Iran, transforming the nature of ecological education, and against car-centricity in the urban infrastructure.
With Mohammad Darvish, I have seen the Chamshir dam from close, which can lead to much bigger disasters than the Gotvand dam, and have studied its consequences. In Ahvaz, together with Mohammad Darvish, we are going towards the eastern shore of Karun River where a conversation about the consequences of dewatering the Chamshir Dam on Khuzestan, near Gachsaran district took place.
What are the worst consequences of the Chamshir dam for Khuzestan, or the Gotvand dam?
Zohreh River is one of the essential and old rivers in Khuzestan province, whose existence plays a vital role. When a dam is built on a river, the load of water upstream of the dam increases. If the Chamshir dam, located in Yasouj district, is filled the grave and worrisome living conditions will affect Handijan, Mahshahr, and Shadegan in Khuzestan. Also, in the geological report of Chamshir Dam, it is mentioned that seventy percent of the reservoir of Chamshir Dam is on the Gachsaran formation. In another report, it was clarified that 500 thousand tons of salt enter the dam’s reservoir and dissolve yearly. Some experts in the Ministry of Energy say that other dams have been built in the valley of Zagros and Gachsaran.
However, the salt in these dams which are located higher up is not much. But, Chamshir dam, Gotvand dam and Marun dam are situated in the Dezful subsidence area, which is a well known area for biologists, considering that a high amount of salt has been seen in the mentioned dams. And this can create a huge crises. This massive volume of salt can adversely affect the downstream springs. Currently, the salinity of the water downstream of the Zahra River is 35% higher than the river’s, meaning it is twice as salty as the sea water. It will increase several tens of times, a big disaster in the east of Khuzestan.
Do you envisage other problems for Khuzestan, rising from the Chamshir dam?
Yes, apart from the intensification of water salinity affecting Khuzestan plains, as reported by the Ministry of Petroleum, in addition to being worried about the salt, we should also be worried about petroleum, chemicals and microbiological substances caused by the existence of 11 oil wells that will go underwater. There is no guarantee that faults will be activated after an earthquake and oil derivatives will leak, and that is where the disaster will be more severe and will lead to a significant crisis. The question should always be asked why they have accepted the risk of building a dam in such a place despite all the damage and danger.
How does the Ministry of Oil react to this dam and its impact on the well rings?
There are 11 wells in the dam reservoir, which must be sealed if the decision is made to draw water. Because of this, the Ministry of Oil has claimed seven billion dollars in damages. The Ministry of Oil is a severe critic of the dam’s water extraction due to financial issues and environmental consequences caused by a possible oil leak.
What are the worst consequences of Chamshir Dam for Khuzestan, or are the provinces of Bushehr, Kohgiluyeh, and Boyer Ahmad also involved?
Because Chamshir dam is built on Zohreh river and this river flows towards Khuzestan, so Khuzestan will be the first victim of this dam. A tourist village will be built in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyar Ahmad area and on the edge of the dam lake. Therefore, it is not supposed to transfer water for agricultural development in this area. So there is no danger to that province. But regarding Bushehr province, it should be noted that if the water becomes salty, the water should be stopped from getting transferred to Bushehr province through canals. Thus, Khuzestan will pay the highest price when dewatering Chamshir dam.
Will Chamshir dam have climatic effects?
If the concerns are not resolved, the 50,000 hectares of land will turn into a salt lake, creating a salt tsunami due to the wind and affecting the people living in the area. In a situation where the development of forest cover should always be considered, even a forest habitat of 2500 hectares will be lost.
What will be the social consequences of this dam?
We have more than 110 thousand hectares agricultural land in the region, which has created many jobs. If this dam will cause salinization for Khuzestan, we will face massive migrations. Now that Chamshir dam is in the stage of dewatering, why does the environmental protection organization want to conduct final investigations and decide whether to dewater the dam?
Why does the Environmental Protection Organization want to conduct final investigations and decide whether to withdraw water? Because the Environmental Protection Organization has always been the backyard of governments, many pressures are put on it not to stop the development wheel in the country. For this reason, its voice is permanently silenced. On the other hand, I am surprised and sorry that the environmental assessment report of this dam, which the Royan Company provided, has significant flaws and does not even mention the Gachsaran formation. Still, in practice, the same assessment report is approved by the Environmental Protection Organization.
If the dewatering of this dam is going to be stopped, what use do you suggest for this structure?
Some say that several thousand billion tomans have been allocated for the Chamshir dam, and the damages that this dam will cause will impose another 10s of billions of tomans on this country. Yes, this was the national wealth that is destroyed, but this dam can become a museum and a visual lesson for people who think from the point of view of harmful structures. But, we should not allow this dam to be dewatered, and hope that like last time and the bitter experience of Gotvand dam, this dam will not be allowed to get dewatered.
The question that is bothering me is: why, despite all the damages related to this dam, environmentalists and the media have come so late to criticize the construction and the dewatering?
Although the law clearly emphasizes free circulation of information, those involved in construction of this dam, such as the contractors, implementers, consultants, etc. avoid telling the truth because there are huge profits involved. There is a weird system in which official who have access to reports and data during research to implement a project, when there is an opportunity to think about a solution, do not publish the information for vague reasons and close all communication channels with public opinion and experts. But when one of the members has a conflict of interest for any reason or his silent conscience is awakened, information is gradually leaked and given to the media through environmental activists. The Miankale incident showed us that the support of public opinion and experts could be excellent support for the head of the environmental organization to implement his authority, and Ali Salagegheh can use this experience to arouse the attention of the President. Considering that the upper authorities recognize only the environment organization as responsible to take action in this field, the authorities of the Environment Protection Organization should request the supervisory system, especially the judiciary, to pay attention to the opinions of experts in this field.
Khuzestan is one of the most vulnerable regions of Iran. To increase the resilience of this province, what are the steps to be taken for a solution? The water rights of the wetlands should be respected, and the natural habitats of Khuzestan should be restored.
