Financial Tribune - Transferring water from the Caspian Sea in the north to the drought-hit central plateau will have severe negative environmental effects, a former member of the World Water Council said.

The plan to transfer water through a 200-kilometer pipeline from Mazandaran Province to Semnan Province has been promoted as a solution to help meet growing demand in the agricultural, industrial and household sectors of the water-stressed region.

�Pumping water from Caspian Sea would eventually lead to an increase in the sea�s salinity and endanger the habitats it supports,� Abbasqoli Jahani was quoted as saying by ILNA.