Investigating the Effects of Groundwater Depletion in Fars Province: The Case Study of Darab Plain

Weak governance of groundwater and over-extraction of water by farmers had serious economic, social and environmental impacts. Fars province in production of crops is mainly dependent on groundwater and is facing with this problem. This paper aims to examine some economic, social and environmental effects of groundwater depletion in Darab plain. Data were collected from interview with a stratified random sample of 300 farmers. In addition, to measure the effects of groundwater depletion on water quality, a sample of extracted water was analyzed. The findings of the study showed that the income of 91 percent of farmers have decreased as a result of water depletion. Evaluation of social effect of groundwater depletion show that this problem led to increase the poverty, unemployment and migration.