Drought: The Achilles Heel of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Shahi, Afshin

doi:10.1080/03068374.2019.1567100

Cited by 22 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Droughts cause drying up of surface and subsurface water bodies and make a vast population of the country under water stress (Shahi, ). The drought of 1999–2001 caused 20 million people under severe water storage (Procházka et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial assessment of meteorological drought features over different climate regions in Iran

Sharafati

Nabaei

Shahid

2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Iran has a predominantly arid and semi‐arid climate where the drought hazards and their variability are the crucial concerns for water resources management. This study assesses the characteristics and trends of meteorological droughts features in different climate regions of Iran. Monthly rainfall data are analysed using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to reconstruct meteorological droughts for different time steps (1, 3, 6, 9 and 12). The drought events are decomposed into three features, namely Severity (S), Duration (D) and Peak (P) to assess their spatial variations in different climate regions. The Mann–Kendall (MK) test is used to detect the trends in drought features in different climate regions. The percentage area (PA) of increasing/decreasing trend in drought features is computed to assess the spatial variations of trends in each region. Besides, SPI is compared with Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) to understand the importance of evapotranspiration on meteorological droughts. The high correlations between SPI and SPEI indicate that the results obtained using SPI would not vary if a similar analysis is conducted using SPEI. The results obtained using SPI reveal that short‐duration droughts (6 months or less) are more frequent and severe in the northwest and the north along the Caspian plains while the longer‐duration droughts (more than 6 months) are more frequent and severe in the south, southeast and southwest. Overall, the northwest region of Iran is found most susceptible to droughts in terms of S, P and D. Moderate (40% < PA < 60%) or significant (PA > 60%) increase in the drought features are observed in all climate regions for shorter SPI (3 months or less) except northwest, while no drought feature is found to increase significantly for SPI‐12. Overall, the higher increase in drought S, P and D are found in the central arid region and at higher altitudes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial assessment of meteorological drought features over different climate regions in Iran

Sharafati

Nabaei

Shahid

2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…Water resources management has been at the centre of global discussion for years. It will be more crucial in Iran, where around 14% of the land receives more than 52% of the rainfall, which has made 97% of the country suffer from drought (Shahi, 2019). The government has implemented the inter‐basin water transfer policy to solve the issue of water deficits in semiarid places.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of Zayandehrood River water values for agriculture and the environment

Karami

Yazdani

Saleh

et al. 2020

River Research & Apps

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River water management is challenging not only since they are open systems with changing physical structures, but also because the water values are mostly unknown over varied sectors. If policymakers grasp water values, water management will be more efficient. This research intends to examine the values of water in agriculture, which receives the most substantial portion of water resources, with the values of water in the environment in Isfahan located in the Zayandehrood River basin of Iran. The consequences of contingent valuation and production function methods revealed that per cubic metre value of water is 13 times higher in the environment than agriculture. The government should reconsider the higher value of the environment despite it is a non‐market value. The contingent valuation model additionally proved that women exhibited 21% more willingness to pay than men in order to protect the environment; however, they are paid less by 36%.

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“…In contrast to the prevalent claim that dams are a solution to water crises, evidence suggests in Iran they are one of the reasons for water crisis [37]. Environmental experts argue that these dams are one of the main reasons for recent drought due to impacts on wetlands, groundwater, and forests [17,38,39]. For example, one official in Iran's Department of Environment relates that the construction of the Shafarood Dam in Gilan will destroy 93 hectares of forest [40].…”

Section: State-sponsored Mass Construction Of Dams In Iran: Developmementioning

confidence: 97%

“…In Iran, large dam projects increased in number after 1979, in the name of development, to such an extent that Iran gained the dubious distinction of third in the world for dam construction in 2012 [15]. Dams as representations of modernization [16] were recognized in Iran as 'physical symbols of advancement and "self-sufficiency" [17] (p. 27). With the high rate of dam construction in Iran, many communities have been displaced, and dams have caused conflicts between impacted communities and the state.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contested Dam Development in Iran: A Case Study of the Exercise of State Power over Local People

Hoominfar

Radel

2020

Sustainability

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In this article, we address the interaction of the Iranian State, an agent of power, with affected village residents, as four dam projects are planned and implemented. Dams, recently positioned as a green energy source, are a central component to Iran’s national development strategies; yet historically their construction has been a source of significant conflict and resistance around the world. We focus on ten villages facing displacement or partial loss of lands at the time of the research, and we answer the question: During dam building and resettlement processes, how have residents experienced their role in decision making and the exercise of state power over them? Through a lens of political ecology, we engage with Lukes’ theory of power to interpret data from 18 focus group discussions and 20 in-depth interviews with residents, as well as from 10 interviews with local and state authorities. This case study illustrates how, from the perspectives of residents of rural communities, the Iranian State applies its power over them through multiple, simultaneous means. Coercion, non-decision making, and the withholding of information emerge from analysis as the primary successful mechanisms, while discursive consent-production emerges as largely unsuccessful. We demonstrate how lack of data or other information provision for natural resource development projects can be an important lever the state uses to exercise power, especially when combined with non-decision making. Although all Lukes’ dimensions of power apply to this case, non-decision making was most severe in its experienced effects, as residents suffered from uncertainty and an inability to move forward with individual plans. Our research provides insight into how conflicts over state-sponsored dam building can embody the contest between a sustainable development centered on justice/equity and one centered on economic growth.

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Drought: The Achilles Heel of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Cited by 22 publications

References 5 publications

Spatial assessment of meteorological drought features over different climate regions in Iran

Spatial assessment of meteorological drought features over different climate regions in Iran

A comparison of Zayandehrood River water values for agriculture and the environment

Contested Dam Development in Iran: A Case Study of the Exercise of State Power over Local People

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