The water crisis and socio-ecological development profile of Rafsanjan Township, Iran

Abstract

Water scarcity is a critical challenge in the Middle East. Historical analysis of case studies indicates that decades of water mismanagement and weak environmental planning play substantial roles in the water crisis. This paper illustrates the conflict between rapid development policies on the one hand and non-sustainable water resource management on the other in Rafsanjan Township, Iran over the period 1986-2014. Secondary literature and government reports are used to analyze the general environmental changes and responsive actions of government. A time series analysis of Landsat images illustrates the effect of economic development policies that have stimulated the expansion of pistachio orchards. Some possible responses based on a long-term socio-ecological resilient planning approach may provide some solutions, but will require a substantial rethinking of current policies and water management practices.

Participatory Policy Analysis for Climate Change Adaptation

“…Therefore, the large exchange rate difference in conjunction with cheap energy encouraged the farmers of Rafsanjan to import more pumping wells in order to expand pistachio production. The pump technology that was formerly unavailable and unaffordable became more beneficial and gradually replaced the traditional Qanat system for exploiting groundwater for irrigation (Mehryar et al, 2015). Moreover, together with water and energy subsidies the high exchange rate for exporting pistachio made the pistachio production highly lucrative for the farmers in Rafsanjan (Agah and Hassani, 2014).…”

“…Excessive agricultural area expansion is a direct pressure inflicted by the socioeconomic drivers of development planning and population growth. To explore agricultural land expansion within the Rafsanjan Township, we prepared the NDVI images derived from Landsat satellite images over a 28 years period between 1998 and 2014 (Mehryar et al, 2015). NDVI images are extensively used in determining water stress levels on vegetation and assessing drought impact (Peters et al, 2002, Al-doski et al, 2013, Gopinath et al, 2015, Himanshu et al, 2015.…”

“…Some regions like north and east of Rafsanjan city and also the areas around Anar has witnessed more orchards drying up while the orchards between Rafsanjan and Bayaz and also the ones in east of Township appear to be in better condition. (Mehryar et al, 2015)…”

“…In the part of pressures, often the wells construction and growing number of wells are mentioned as the main causes of ground water over-exploitation (Mehryar et al, 2015). Nevertheless, from the stakeholders' perception, the "unregulated wells water consumption" puts a much higher pressure on the system than the "number of wells".…”

“…Years of data Source 1966-1986-1996-2006-2011-2016 Iran National Census https://www.amar.org .ir/english/Iran-at-aglance/Kerman Pistachio land expansion Area of total pistachio lands (ha) 1976-1986-1998-2006-2014 Landsat 8 images -NDVI (Mehryar et al, 2015) Number of legal wells 1971-1973-1974-1975-1976-1981-1983-1986-1989-1993-1997-2005-2006 Official reports, Water research institute, Ministry of Energy…”