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Integrated Water Resources Management in Iran

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Integrated Water Resource Management

Abstract

Iran is dealing with various water resources challenges. Drying lakes and rivers, declining groundwater resources, water supply rationing and disruptions, agricultural losses, and ecosystem damages are just few of the challenges. This chapter introduces how current management of water resources in Iran led to water crisis in the country, which was formerly renowned as a pioneer of sustainable water management. Iran is located in an arid and semi-arid region, and the combined actions of natural and human factors caused the modern water-related crisis. Although there is no control over natural factors, sustainable water resources planning and management could be achieved by implementing integrated water resources management strategies. This chapter particularly focuses on two of the most vital challenges the country is dealing with: one is mismanagement of the Zayandehrud River basin and the other one is the tragic drying of Lake Urmia. After reviewing the causing problems for each case, we briefly introduce some of the opportunities offered by IWRM practices and identify possible main strategies for the future perspective of management of water resources in Iran.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Erfan Goharian

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

    Mohamad Azizipour

  3. School of Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Mohamad Azizipour

Authors
  1. Erfan Goharian
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  2. Mohamad Azizipour
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erfan Goharian .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Minas Gerais, Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Edson de Oliveira Vieira

  2. Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Samuel Sandoval-Solis

  3. Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

    Valmir de Albuquerque Pedrosa

  4. Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    J. Pablo Ortiz-Partida

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Goharian, E., Azizipour, M. (2020). Integrated Water Resources Management in Iran. In: Vieira, E., Sandoval-Solis, S., Pedrosa, V., Ortiz-Partida, J. (eds) Integrated Water Resource Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16565-9_9

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