Reviving the Zayandeh Rud River: Inquiring the Remained Opportunities

This essay addresses the principal challenges in the Zayandeh Rud River and their underlying causes and highlights some strategies to alter current practices. The primary problem in this basin is the need for organizing and monitoring the water withdrawals. This issue has intertwined with determining the share and priority of water rights under different climate conditions. The persistence of these challenges implies that water scarcity and poor water governance are symptoms of a deeper problem related to the impacts of Iran's socio-political situation. Therefore, blaming the water governance system is a misguided approach. The most crucial strategy for transitioning to a new equilibrium state is maintaining a minimum but steady natural flow of the river through iterative and step-by-step processes. Regardless of its size, a flowing river can be seen as a symbol of transformation and the driving force behind building capacity for river management, monitoring, and enforcement of surface water and groundwater withdrawals.