Analyzing the Casual Factors of the Crisis in the Water Policies of Zayandeh-Rud River Basin; Case Study of Western Cities of Isfahan Province

Water resources management in the Central Plateau of Iran and Zayandeh-Rud River basin, as the only permanent river of this plateau, has faced serious challenges which has challenged the lives and livelihoods of most residents and beneficiaries.The aim of this study was to identify and explain the causes of the crisis in the Water Policies of Zayandeh-Rud River Basin from the perspective of beneficiaries in the western townships of Isfahan province. The reseerch method of the styudy was qualitative type and by the Thematic analysis approach. In this study, data were collected through in-depth and semi-structured interviews and have been done with 51 beneficiaries in Falavarjan, Mobarakeh, Shahin Shahr and Maymeh, Khomeini Shahr, Lenjan, Chadegan, Fereydunshahr, Fereidan and Buin cities.In this study, first 195 causes announced by the participants were investigated and after removing similarities and repetitions, they were counted in the form of 76 basic concepts and analysed relying on the data encoding process in the Thematic analysis, in the open laying stage, were obtained 15 main concepts from these concepts. The findings of this study indicate that the concept (core) of the nucleus, which is the cause of the water crisis in these cities, has emerged under the influence of four categories of political, legal, climatic and ethnic-cultural causes.