The Effects of Economic Growth and Urbanization of Mazandaran Province of Iran on Environmental Quality of Water with Emphasis on Rivers of the Province

Economic activities have a wide range of environmental impacts such as forest degradation, Surface and underground water pollution and air pollution. Mazandaran province of Iran is very rich in surface and underground water and has many rivers due to its natural characteristics. This study aimed at investigating the relationship between water pollution and economic growth in this province within the framework of Kuznets' environmental curve using panel data and generalized method of moments (GMM) during 2001-2014. The study results showed that the water pollution index was positively correlated with urbanization variable, GDP and its cubes and had a negative relation to GDP squared. The results also showed an N-shaped relationship between the water pollution and other variables. Positive third-rate gross domestic product (GDP) indicated an increase in the water pollution associated with economic development, which suggested that the government should make the necessary decisions to prevent further contamination.