Measuring the Effects of National Dam-Construction Projects on Regional Development, Case Study: Karun-3 Dam, Izeh City, Khuzestan

Implementing large civil projects such as dam construction can considerably affect geographical areas, and these impacts are not necessarily positive. Therefore, attention to this problem to decrease the negative effects of dam construction and considering these effects in the assessment of benefits and costs in water sector planning is necessary. This study aims to measure the effects of Karun-3 dam's construction on the environment, society, economy, and the body of Izeh city. This investigation is a descriptive-analytical research. The territory of study is the Izeh city located in Khuzestan province. The statistical population of the study consists of experts, specialists, and regional development experts who live in city of Izeh. To measure the effects, a researcher-made questionnaire has been used. The sample volume is calculated as 375 people using the Cochrane method which are questioned by the available random method. Central statistics and bionomial tests were used to describe, analyse, and determine the correlation between independent and dependent variables. The results show that implementing Karun-3 dam had negative effects on the environment, society, and economy with correlation values of 0.77, 0.63, and 0.56, respectively. However, the effects of dam construction on physical component were low, with the value of 0.15.