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The present challenges and policy for sustainable management of groundwater resources in Iran: putting emphasis on Lorestan province as an example in the country

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Abstract

Iran is performing an unsustainable groundwater management plan, causing depletion of the aquifers and deterioration of their quality. To grapple with the prevailing challenges, the groundwater resources sustainability management plan (GRSMP) was instigated in 2014. The objective of this study is to represent the challenges encountered when performing the plan, including social, cultural, demographic, economic, institutional, inter-organizational, technical, technological, political, legal, juridical, environmental, agricultural, and hydrological perspectives, in order to propose adaptation strategies for maintaining invaluable groundwater resources in Iran. Lorestan province, in west Iran, is a representative region that includes plentiful aquifers, and its challenges and proposed strategies can be generalized to the whole country. Results highlighted that despite performing GRSMP, groundwater levels are declining, primarily due to anthropogenic influences, in all basins over the province, so that the aquifers may not sustain themselves for the next generations if conditions remain business as usual. In addition, climate change is exacerbating the situation, especially in the karst groundwater systems. Therefore, GRSMP cannot be applied anymore, and in fact, it is highly recommended to promptly initiate a new practical groundwater resources management plan by considering different related factors so as to expect a resilient and sustainable future with hydrogeoethics and prevent potential negative environmental repercussions that are already occurring, such as land subsidence.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Editor in Chief, i.e., Dr. Jim LaMoreaux, the guest editor, and the anonymous reviewers for their really constructive comments on the earlier manuscript, which led to an improvement of the article.

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The author did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Minerals and Groundwater Resources, School of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

    Nejat Zeydalinejad

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 7146713565, Iran

    Habib Mahdavikia

  3. Water Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Lorestan, Iran

    Ahmad Goudarzi

  4. Groundwater Expert at Bureau of Basic Studies of Water Resources, Lorestan Regional Water Company, Lorestan, Iran

    Shirin Saeidi

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  1. Nejat Zeydalinejad
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Contributions

All the authors, including NZ, HM, AG and SS, contributed to the study conception, analysis and design. Material preparation (data collection) was performed by all the authors. The manuscript was written by NZ, and all the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Nejat Zeydalinejad.

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Zeydalinejad, N., Mahdavikia, H., Goudarzi, A. et al. The present challenges and policy for sustainable management of groundwater resources in Iran: putting emphasis on Lorestan province as an example in the country. Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 9, 95 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-023-00883-6

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