Water shortages are said to have forced, since 2005, over 100,000 people who depended for their livelihoods on karez systems to leave their homes.
==== Irak ====Raziskava sistemov kanatov v regiji Kurdistan v Iraku, ki jo izvaja Oddelek za geografijo Oklahoma State University (ZDA) v imenu Unesca, je v letu 2009 pokazala, da je bilo od 683 "karez" sistemov, še vedno aktivnih 380 v letu 2004, le 116 pa v letu 2009.