Relationships Between Land Degradation and Natural Disasters and Their Impacts on Integrated Watershed Management in Iran

Abstract

Integrated watershed management entails coordination and cooperation as well as the management of soil and water for the attainment of several objectives. There are numerous examples and regulations to be cited from countries such as the US and Australia, which clearly depict measures and activities directed at the management of soil, water and other environmental resources. Reports indicate that discharges from groundwater resources, fountains, and Qanats in vast areas of Iran have drastically declined so that supplying drinking water in some areas is facing serious difficulty. Water table decline, gradual salinization of the underground reservoirs and their declining quality lead to more soil salinization and increasingly lower harvest yields. Combined with the low irrigation efficiency (around 30-35%), these problems indicate that less than 10% of the annual precipitation is being used for productive use. Increased salinity in both surface and ground water resources can be ascribed to overexploitation, depletion of the vegetation cover, deforestation, range degradation, and increasing agricultural developments. All in all, these factors have led to more runoff and to rising water level in low-lying areas. From a management perspective, considering the potential capacity of watersheds as well as supervising land use in watersheds with regard to the importance and functions it can have various governmental and strategic aspects of watershed management. Among the first steps to be taken in implementing a management system are strengthening the intersectional coordinating institutions, identifying critical and strategic watersheds (e.g., in terms of their importance for drinking water supply), defining types of land uses according to definite standards, and supervising the general trend of activities in the watershed. For solving the above problems, the participation of local communities in watershed management must be taken more seriously than ever. Mechanisms must be developed to remove undertakings by the government in favor of a privatized system of watershed executive management so that the public sector will be in a position to take its fundamental role of steering and mentoring the implementation of projects. Along these lines, it is essential for banks and the related systems to be empowered in order to offer financial support and backing.