A Critical Ethnographic Analysis of the Challenges of the Water Crisis in the Villages of Mamasani County

With increasing water crisis and rural poverty, especially in arid and semi-arid areas where famine and floods have increased, access to safe water for livestock and home consumption has become more important than access to education and health services. The water crisis has gradually endangered food security and social satisfaction and has emerged in the form of migration, social conflict, and violence. In Iran, the water crisis has led to public dissatisfaction. Recently, there have been some  protests in various cities of Iran as a result of the water crisis, water transfer, and related policies. This is especially the case in small towns and cities that are among the driest areas (including Isfahan, Khuzestan, Borazjan, etc.). In the light of water shortage and migration problems in rural areas of Mamasani County, the purpose of this study is to provide a critical ethnography analysis to investigate the challenges associated with the water crisis in the villages of Mamasani County. The study of this issue at the micro-level is important because in the study area, in addition to water shortage, actions and activities done to manage water resources  have led to some conflicts  between users and policymakers  and potentially have created many problems and complications for the rural residents.

This research isdone usingthe critical ethnographic method. In this study, purposive sampling, which is a type of non-probability sampling, was used. The instruments used  were  observation, interview, and field notes. Data analysis was done through the thematic analysis method. The participants were 25 local residents of rural areas affected by the water crisis in Mamasani. In terms of employment status, 13 participants in the study were both farmers and ranchers while  7 participants were engaged only in livestock. In terms of age, the respondents were from 31 to 65 years old and their education was from illiteracy to high school diploma. In terms of the marital status, all participants were married.

In Iran, the water resources policy suffers from non-specialist decisions to solve the problems related to water resources. In fact, the governance structure of water resources, which includes many beneficial owners in the management and utilization of water resources, has led to increased competition and conflict between stakeholders in the field of water resources.In general, it can be said that the development programs of organizations and institutions have been done to control the natural environment than nature management. Therefore, environmental water crises and drying of permanent rivers in rural areas and wetlands are the results of the instrumental and technical views governing the management of water resources in order to technically control the natural environment.Through the six stages of data analysis, one thematic network was derived. The thematic network of ‘Human Water Catastrophe’ includes 28 basic codes, 10 basic teams, and 3 organizing teams (inefficient governance of water resources, vulnerability, and rural deprivation) that are formed around the axis of the comprehensive theme of ‘Human Water Catastrophe’. The frequency and severity of the water crisis in the studied villages have caused water shortage to become an unusual phenomenon and a human disaster. Catastrophe is considered an unusual phenomenon that affects the physical and social structure of societies. In addition, the thematic network analysis in this study revealed that this crisis has brought about consequences for the villagers resulting  in vulnerability and rural deprivation. The critical model emerged from the rural residents' perception of the water crisis has shown that in this situation where the water crisis has some consequences for rural residents and leads to vulnerability, social disruption, rural deprivation, and reduced capacity, adaptation has taken place in areas. The studied villagers find themselves in a top-down domination relationship imposed on them by poverty and misery and find themselves trapped in environmental and structural determinism. In their view, the power structure does not try to improve their living conditions and they are abandoned and live in the insecure margin of the society.