Human Interaction with Arid and Semi-Arid Environments: A Reflection on Traditional Methods of Water Management and Exploitation in Neyriz Plain, Fars Province, Iran

Some forms of water resources management and irrigation are necessary for forming permanent human habitats and harvesting prosperous agricultural products in the warm and arid regions of West Asia and the Mediterranean, with annual precipitation of less than 200 mm, which usually has no permanent rivers. The survival and success of societies in warm and arid regions rely on complex environmental management systems, especially water resource management and a flexible and compatible lifestyle. Due to the lack of permanent water resources and insufficient precipitation, communities in arid and semi-arid areas have built structures such as qanats, canals, dams, and pools to manage and exploit water resources. These structures follow the geographical, geological, and topographical conditions for water resources exploitation. The Neyriz Plain in the east of Fars province is one of the arid regions with limited annual rainfall. It does not have a permanent river and uses a system to exploit water resources, in which aquifers (underground water sources) play a fundamental role. According to the region’s ecosystem and the results of the archeological survey of the area, it was determined that human society development, from the past to pre-modern, in this plain has depended on the development and management of water-related systems, especially qanats. This research seeks to find the factors affecting the water resource exploitation pattern as the most critical variable affecting the livelihood and settlement pattern in the Neyriz Plain. Furthermore, the evidence related to water resource management has been investigated according to the geological and topography conditions of the region. The results show a direct relationship between the livelihood and the management pattern of water resources, vastly influencing the distribution and type of settlements (nomadic or sedentary).