In Iran, some are chasing the last drops of water

Summer has come to Sistan and Baluchistan province, an impoverished fragment of chapped earth and shimmering heat in Iran's southeast corner, and all people there can talk about is how to get water.

For weeks now, taps in cities like Zahedan have yielded nothing but a salty, weakening trickle. In the villages that water pipes have never reached, the few residents who remain say people can barely find enough water to do the laundry or bathe themselves, let alone fish, farm or sustain livestock.

"Sometimes, just to wash the dishes, we have to wait for so long," said Setareh, 27, a university student in Zahedan, the provincial capital. "Everything from cooking to other chores is an ordeal for us."

Drought has stalked Iran for centuries, but the threat intensified in recent years as political priorities trumped sound water management, experts say. Climate change...