Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Graduate student of Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch
Abstract
Researches indicate that around one third of lands are located in arid areas and Islamic republic of Iran is also located in arid and semi-arid area of the world. Apart from aridity, a significant part of the country, i.e. around 25 million hectares are wastelands. But beyond this most permanent, seasonal and temporal rivers and many important inland lakes have saltwater which worsen this sad situation. On the other hand, more water is extracted from groundwater sources to satisfy ever increasing demands. For example, 79837 million m3 water was extracted from ground water resources in 2002-2003 water year which compared to 2001-2002 water year has increased up to 2.5 percent. Inappropriate and wasteful use of groundwater also results in salinization of freshwater resources.
Southern provinces and cities bordering the desert have lots of saltwater. Water shortage and water saltiness along with salt salinization have even reached agricultural villages and lands are no longer profitable. Most aqueduct, especially those in southern parts of the country and those bordering the desert have dried. There were around 40000 aqueduct which reached 26307 in 2004. Many lands are now barren and desolate. Irregular and unplanned extraction of water from aqueducts, springs and freshwater resources by deep and semi-deep wells have decreased freshwater resources to a great degree and have gradually increased saltwater, water shortage crisis and drought crisis. This crisis is an alarm indicating a massive crisis of water shortage. Planners and authorities should see this crisis as an important religious and divine responsibility and try to find a compassionate and responsible solution. Before it is too late, they should manage and protect water resources, try to preserve rural agriculture and avoid wasting water and polluting its resources, which are shortly discussed in the present article.
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