Groundwater chemistry of the Lenjanat District, Esfahan Province, Iran

Groundwater / Surface water / Water quality / Wells / River Basins / Iran / Esfahan Province / Lenjanat District / Zayandeh Rud Basin / Chadegan Dam / Zagros Mountains

Robbing Yadullah’s water to irrigate Saeid’s garden: hydrology and water rights in a village of Central Iran

Water allocation / Water rights / Irrigation management / Drought / Wells / Dams / Canals / Legal aspects / Villages / Iran / Zayandeh Rud Basin / Jalalabad / Najafabad

An overview of the hydrology of the Zayandeh Rud Basin

River basins / Hydrology / Water use / Reservoirs / Water balance / Climate / Irrigation systems / Iran / Esfahan Province / Zayandeh Rud Basin / Chadegan Reservoir

Water management for sustainable irrigated agriculture in the Zayandeh Rud Basin, Esfahan Province, Iran

Irrigation systemsCropping systemsIrrigated farmingRiver basinsTopographyGeomorphologyClimateHydrologyWater qualityGroundwaterSoil salinitySustainable agricultureIranEsfahan ProvinceZayandeh Rud BasinChadegan Reservoir

Scale, governance and the management of river basins : a case study from Central Iran

Aquatic socio-ecological systems show pervasive cross-scale interactions and problems of fit between ecosystems and institutions. Nested bio-hydrological processes within river basins are prone to third-party impacts, and equitable/sustainable management of water resources requires adequate governance patterns that both cover relevant scalar levels and handle cross-scale interactions. This paper provides the example of the Zayandeh Rud basin, in central Iran, and describes the historical evolution of water use at three different nested scales. It shows how the gradual overallocation of water resources (basin closure) and the manipulation of the hydrological cycle by the state and other actors have resulted in a constant spatial and social redistribution of water use and associated benefits and costs. State-centered modes of governance characterized by the priority to large-scale infrastructure, vested political and financial interests, lack of attention to local processes and hydrological interconnectedness, and the neglect of environmental degradation, must give way to forms of comanagement that better articulate the different levels of control and governance

Macro- and micro-level impacts of droughts: The case of the Zayandeh rud river basin, Iran

The irrigation sector is usually the first water user to be restricted in case of drought and agriculture is most affected. It is very important for water planners to better understand the relationship between a water deficit and agricultural performance in times of drought. This paper examines the 1999-2002 drought in the Zayandeh Rud basin, central Iran. It reviews the impact of dam management, the impact of supply reduction on water allocation and agricultural production, and examines the coping strategies used by farmers at the local level. It shows that although volumes diverted were greatly reduced (and were even zero in 2002) the impact on production was much less, due to a series of adjustment and massive substitution of groundwater for surface water