Enabling sustainable resource management between agriculture, industry and municipal water management

The Zayandeh Rud, the most important river in central Iran, supplies around 4.5 million inhabitants with water while at the same time ensuring the supply of the second largest industrial area in Iran. Its catchment area is an example of the problems associated to increasing competition between agriculture, industry and growing cities. Integrated water resource management (IWRM) plays a decisive role in solving these problems. The aim of the project is to develop sustainable water management in the area, which is severely affected by water shortages.

Led by inter 3, a consortium of scientists and companies will develop an implementable concept for integrated water resource management by 2013. The project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), will see inter 3, ISOE, DHI-WASY, IEEM (University of Witten/Herdecke), p2m berlin, PASSAVANT & WATEC and the German Water Partnership develop and supply targeted technologies and the necessary management knowledge for sustainable resource management for the Iranian water sector.

Water management decision-making system for the Zayandeh Rud area

The project is divided into three phases. In the first step, the current water management situation in the Zayandeh Rud catchment area is analysed, taking into account both environmental and socio-economic factors. The team will then work out management tools for the sustainable management of water resources. Together with experts from the Iranian Ministry of Energy and Water and the Isfahan Water Authority, the technologies and management strategies tested in Germany are adapted to Iranian conditions. The results are compiled into a uniform IWRM decision-making system via knowledge maps. Acceptance by the relevant user groups will be promoted through their proactive and early involvement as well as target group-specific and dialogue-oriented public relations activities throughout the entire IWRM process.

In the second phase of the project, the long-term interactions between groundwater use, water quality and climate change will be investigated more intensively. For the third phase, a transfer of results to semi-arid regions in Central Asia is planned based on a demand-oriented acceptance and a dialogue concept.