Analyzing the Social, Economical and Environmental Consequences of Kerdeh Dam in Mashhad and Bedvaz Dam in Esferayen

Because of the increasing importance of water in several dimensions of human life specially in the last 50 years, most of the countries including Iran have allocated considerable investment and programming to regulate and control water by the use of engineering structures specially dams. Initiation of Kardeh Dam (Mashhad) in 1367 and Beedvaz Dam (Esferayen) in 1382 in line with this very policy. A major issue which have rarely received attention from researchers is the consequence of the implementation of such projects and evaluating their social, economical, and environmental effects. This paper aims to fill this gap. Taking a descriptive-analytic approach and using survey and comparative studies on new data and evidence related to the time before the construction of these dams and the attitude of people who use the water of these dams, research evaluates the effects of the construction and use of the dams. The results show negative effects regarding the size of cultivated agricultural lands and economical, social and environmental effects in the vicinity of Kardeh Dam. In the case of Beedvaz dam, a limited improvement in the economical and environmental conditions was observed because all the water coming from this dam was allocated to agricultural purposes. Another important finding was that more than 80% of the users are not satisfied with the state management of these dams and the way their water is distributed in the vicinity. This shows that taking a participatory approach to the use and management of these dams seems unavoidable.