Look at the past, vision for the future with the groundwater sustainability approach in desert regions

Abstract

Ancient civilizations long practiced sustainable and integrated water resource management. To implement groundwater sustainability policies and strategies, this study introduces ecological wisdom as a transdisciplinary integrated approach. The present study aims to present strategies for the development and evolution of ecological wisdom governing Qanat hydraulic structure (QHS) with the groundwater sustainability approach in an Iranian desert region. Thus, the constraints of the development and evolution of ecological wisdom governing QHS were extracted using the structural-interpretive model, and the strategies for their development and evolution were presented with an operational-prescriptive approach. The results indicate that 14 variables can be identified as strategic constraints for the development and evolution of QHS. Also, based on eleven extracted scenarios with strong consistency, only two highly adaptable scenarios would design strategies for developing and evolving ecological wisdom governing QHS. Therefore, Rethinking the ancient heritage and developing ecological wisdom which governs it not only manifests the ecological considerations and cultural-social values of local communities but also considers a comprehensive and transdisciplinary approach to addressing materialism and reductionism challenges as well as providing a pattern for making visible the invisible treasure and groundwater sustainability in dry regions.