Agricultural Water Conflict in the Doroodzan Dam Irrigation Network, Iran: The Opinion of Regional Water Experts

Agricultural water conflict describes conflicts among water stakeholders in the agricultural sector. The purpose of this study was to investigate regional water experts’ opinions towards agricultural water conflicts. The research was conducted in Doroodzan dam irrigation network in Fars Province, Iran. The study was carried out by using a descriptive, correlative method. All regional water experts who worked downstream of Doroodzan dam formed the population of this study (75 experts) of whom 66 people were recruited as a sample from this population. A questionnaire was used as a tool for gathering data and its validity was confirmed by a group of professionals. A pilot study was conducted and Cronbach's alpha test was applied to determine the data collection instrument reliability. Findings revealed that, among groups involved in water conflicts, the main conflict was between farmers in downstream and upstream. Downstream farmers were the main losers in water distribution. The dominant form of water conflict was "open conflict" as well. This result shows water conflict in this area is groing more gradually. The main reasons for increasing water conflict were "drought", "water scarcity" and "the style of water management by the government".
According to the expert's opinions, the best type of water management must be a combination of governmental monitoring and local management by farmers. There were no significant differences among different groups of experts in regard to agricultural water conflict.