Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Groundwater governance and implementing the conservation policy: the case study of Rafsanjan Plain in Iran

  • Case study
  • Published:
Environment, Development and Sustainability Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The groundwater system in the Rafsanjan aquifer perpetuated sustainably for decades before 1950s; however, its groundwater resources have been overexploited in the recent decades. In this paper, we aim to investigate the water governance system to understand the reasons behind the ongoing overexploitation. Sustainability processes are considered a policy implementation problematic. As such, we employ the contextual interaction theory as a policy implementation framework to assess the groundwater governance as part of the context for the conservation policy. Data for this qualitative research were gathered from legal texts, articles, technical reports, and multiple interviews with authorities and groundwater users. The assessment results revealed that the poor quality of the governance system is central to the ineffectiveness of the conservation policies. Findings of this paper can be relied on to devise tools to underpin an appropriate context to sustain groundwater resources.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Groundwater Management Advisory Team.

  2. According to Kerman Regional Water Company (http://www.krrw.ir).

  3. https://goo.gl/RW2ZZj.

  4. Head of IWRMC regarding the inattention to the groundwater resources said “… the reason behind this issue, has been the management problems… lack of attention to social issues has led us to this point now”. (refer to www.magiran.com/n3686477).

References

  • Abdolahi, M. (2012). Investigating willingness to participate of Rafsanjan Plain pistachio growers in the national planting plan. Rafsanjan: Iran Pistachio Research Institute. (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Abtahi, S. M. (1998). Economic history of Rafsanjan. Rafsanjan: Tavakol Publications of Rafsanjan. (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Allan, J. T. (2007). Rural economic transitions: Groundwater uses in the Middle East and its environmental consequences. In M. Giordano & K. Villholth (Eds.), The agricultural groundwater revolution: Opportunities and threats to development (pp. 63–78). Colombo: International Water Management Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayers, R. S., & Westcot, D. W. (1985). Water quality for agriculture. Rome: Fao Rome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bressers, H. (2009). From public administration to policy networks: Contextual interaction analysis. In S. Nahrath & F. Varone (Eds.), Rediscovering public law and public administration in comparative policy analysis: Tribute to Peter Knoepfel (pp. 123–141). Milan: PPUR Presses Polytechniques.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bressers, H., Bressers, N., & Larrue, C. (2016). Governance for drought resilience, land and water drought management in Europe. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bressers, H., de Boer, C., Lordkipanidze, M., Özerol, G., Vinke-de Kruijf, J., Furusho, C., Lajeunesse, I., Larrue, C., Ramos, M.-H., Kampa, E., Stein, U., Tröltzsch, J., Vidaurre, R., & Browne, A. (2013). Water governance assessment tool with an elaboration for drought resilience. Drop Governance. The Netherlands. INTERREG IVB.

  • Casiano Flores, C., Özerol, G., & Bressers, H. (2017). “Governance restricts”: A contextual assessment of the wastewater treatment policy in the Guadalupe River Basin. Utilities Policy, 47, 29–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Closas, A., & Molle, F. (2016). Groundwater governance in the Middle East and North Africa region. Colombo: IWMI.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Boer, C. L. (2012). Contextual water management: A study of governance and implementation processes in local stream restoration projects. CSTM. Enschede: University of Twente.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Boer, C., & Bressers, H. (2011). Complex and dynamic implementation processes: The renaturalization of the Dutch Regge River. Enschede: University of Twente, in Collaboration with the Dutch Water Governance Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downs, A. (1957). An economic theory of political action in a democracy. Journal of Political Economy, 65(2), 135–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Famiglietti, J. S. (2014). The global groundwater crisis. Nature Climate Change, 4(11), 945–948.

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO. (2016). Global diagnostic on groundwater governance. Groundwater governance: A global framework for action. Rome: FAO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farzaneh, M. R., Bagheri, A., & Momeni, F. (2016). A system dynamics insight to institutional context analysis of groundwater resources in Rafsanjan Plain. Iran Water Resources Research, 12(2), 67–82. (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

  • García, M., Smidt, E., & de Vries, J. J. (2017). Emergence and evolution of groundwater management and governance. In K. G. Villholth, E. Lopez-Gunn, K. Conti, A. Garrido, & J. Van Der Gun (Eds.), Advances in groundwater governance (pp. 33–55). Leiden: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghafouri Fard, S., Bagheri, A., & Shajari, S. (2015). Stakeholders assessment in water sector (case study: Rafsanjan area). Iran Water Resources Research, 11(2), 16–28. (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Giordano, M. (2009). Global groundwater? Issues and solutions. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 34(1), 153–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giordano, M., & Villholth, K. G. (2007). The agricultural groundwater revolution: Setting the stage. In M. Giordano & K. Villholth (Eds.), The agricultural groundwater revolution: Opportunities and threats to development (pp. 1–4). Colombo: Cabi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gohari, A., Eslamian, S., Mirchi, A., Abedi-Koupaei, J., Massah Bavani, A., & Madani, K. (2013). Water transfer as a solution to water shortage: A fix that can backfire. Journal of Hydrology, 491, 23–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • IWRMC. (2006). Synthesis of studies and water balance, analysis of water statistics, data and balance. Tehran: Halil-Ab Consulting Engineers [3-3,4,5]. (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jafari, F. (2012). The effect of overusing of ground water on quantity and quality of water resources in Rafsanjan plain; According to socioeconomics problems Watershed management. Maybod: Islamic Azad University. (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

  • JAMAB. (2010). Soil and water resources assessment for the agricultural sector of Dar-Anjir-Saghand river basin. Tehran: Office of Water and Wastewater Macro Planning [9]. (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamali-Jaghdani, T. (2012). Demand for Irrigation water from depleting groundwater resources: An econometric approach. Göttingen: Niedersächsische Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen.

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Gunn, E. (2012). Groundwater governance and social capital. Geoforum, 43(6), 1140–1151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madani, K. (2014). Water management in Iran: What is causing the looming crisis? Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 4(4), 315–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matland, R. E. (1995). Synthesizing the implementation literature: The ambiguity-conflict model of policy implementation. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 5(2), 145–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirnezami, S. J., Bagheri, A., & Maleki, A. (2018). Inaction of society on the drawdown of groundwater resources: A case study of Rafsanjan Plain in Iran. Water Alternatives, 11(3), 725–748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molle, F., Closas, A., & Al-Zubari, W. (2017). Governing groundwater in the Middle East and North Africa Region. In K. G. Villholth, E. Lopez-Gunn, K. Conti, A. Garrido, & J. Van Der Gun (Eds.), Advances in groundwater governance (pp. 527–553). Leiden: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mollinga, P. P. (2008). Water, politics and development: Framing a political sociology of water resources management. Water Alternatives, 1(1), 7–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Motagh, M., Walter, T. R., Sharifi, M. A., Fielding, E., Schenk, A., Anderssohn, J., & Zschau, J. (2008). Land subsidence in Iran caused by widespread water reservoir overexploitation. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(16), 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mousavi, S. M., Shamsai, A., Naggar, M. H. E., & Khamehchian, M. (2001). A GPS-based monitoring program of land subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal in Iran. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 28(3), 452–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukherji, A., & Shah, T. (2005). Groundwater socio-ecology and governance: A review of institutions and policies in selected countries. Hydrogeology Journal, 13(1), 328–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2015). Drying wells, rising stakes: Towards sustainable agricultural groundwater use. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264238701.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • O’Toole, L. J. (2000). Research on policy implementation: Assessment and prospects. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 10(2), 263–288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Özerol, G., Bressers, H., & Coenen, F. (2012). Irrigated agriculture and environmental sustainability: An alignment perspective. Environmental Science & Policy, 23, 57–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pressman, J. L., & Wildavsky, A. B. (1973). Implementation: How great expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland; or, why it’s amazing that federal programs work at all. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shah, T. (2014). Groundwater governance and irrigated agriculture. Stockholm: GWP.[19].

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. J., & Walpole, M. J. (2005). Should conservationists pay more attention to corruption? Oryx, 39(3), 251–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Theesfeld, I. (2010). Institutional challenges for national groundwater governance: Policies and issues. Ground Water, 48(1), 131–142.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Torabi, S., Mousavi Pour, S., & Rezaie, A. (2014). Sustainability of groundwater resources: Case study of Rafsanjan (with emphasis on uncertainty sources in calculation of groundwater balance). Tehran: IWPRI. (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tracy, S. J. (2011). Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Varady, R. G., van Weert, F., Megdal, S. B., Gerlak, A., Iskandar, C. A., & House-Peters, L. (2015). Groundwater governance synthesis report. Groundwater Governance: A Global Framework For Action. FAO.

  • Varady, R., Zuniga-Teran, A., Gerlak, A., & Megdal, S. (2016). Modes and approaches of groundwater governance: A survey of lessons learned from selected cases across the globe. Water, 8(10), 417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinke-de Kruijf, J., Kuks, S. M. M., & Augustijn, D. C. M. (2015). Governance in support of integrated flood risk management? The case of Romania. Environmental Development, 16, 104–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wijnen, M., Augeard, B., Hiller, B., Ward, C., & Huntjens, P. (2012). Managing the invisible: Understanding and improving groundwater governance. Washington: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wulff, H. E. (1968). The qanats of Iran. Scientific American, 218(4), 94–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zera’at-kaar, H., & Gol-kaar, E. (2016). Water use in Rafsanjan Plain from 1951 till now. 51. Kerman: IWPRI (Iran Water Policy and Research Institute). (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to appreciate comments from Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Hans Bressers, Gül Özerol and Ali Mirchi on the earlier versions of this paper. The field exploration in the Rafsanjan study area was carried out under the kind support of Iran Water Policy Research Institute, the support of which is highly acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    S. Jalal Mirnezami

  2. Sharif Policy Research Institute (SPRI), Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    S. Jalal Mirnezami

  3. Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-information Management (ITC-PGM), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Cheryl de Boer

  4. Department of Water Resources Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Bagheri

Authors
  1. S. Jalal Mirnezami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cheryl de Boer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ali Bagheri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ali Bagheri.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mirnezami, S.J., de Boer, C. & Bagheri, A. Groundwater governance and implementing the conservation policy: the case study of Rafsanjan Plain in Iran. Environ Dev Sustain 22, 8183–8210 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00488-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00488-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation