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International Journal of Water Resources Development Volume 40, 2024 - Issue 2
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Research Article

Water or mirage? Nightmare over dams and hydropower across Iran

Ali Torabi Haghighia Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, FinlandCorrespondence[email protected]
ORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5157-0156
ORCID Icon,
Mehdi Mazaherib Department of Water Engineering and Management, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, IranORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8670-1710
ORCID Icon,
Siamak Amirib Department of Water Engineering and Management, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, IranORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-1117-1971
ORCID Icon,
Sahand Ghadimia Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, FinlandORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6993-3701
ORCID Icon,
Roohollah Nooric Graduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran;d Faculty of Governance, University of Tehran, Tehran, IranORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7463-8563
ORCID Icon,
Mourad Oussalahe Faculty of ITEE, CMVS, University of Oulu, Oulu, FinlandORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4422-8723
ORCID Icon,
Alireza Goharif Department of Water Science and Engineering, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, IranORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6587-3836
ORCID Icon,
Mojtaba Nouryg Iran Water Resources Management Company, Ministry of Energy, Tehran, IranORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4815-6277
ORCID Icon,
Ali Akbar Hekmatzadehh Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Shiraz University of Technology, Shiraz, IranORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4387-7166
ORCID Icon &
Björn Klövea Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, FinlandORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2353-1440
ORCID Icon show all
Pages 234-251 | Received 23 Jan 2023, Accepted 13 Jul 2023, Published online: 10 Aug 2023
 
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ABSTRACT

This study examines the influence of human activities and climate variability on 86 dams and hydropower across Iran. The term ‘mirage water’ is introduced to estimate the impact of these factors on inflow. Data analysis shows that out of 1729 m3s−1 of mirage water, 705 m3s−1 are contributed by anthropogenic activities and 1024 m3s−1 by precipitation deficits. This indicates that some parts of Iran’s strategic investments in water resources management over the past 60 years have failed. The study underscores the necessity for enhanced management practices and infrastructure investments to ensure sustainable water resources in arid and semi-arid regions.

Author contributions

ATH: research conceptualization and methodology, supervision, writing the original draft, and review- ing and editing; MM: research conceptualization and methodology, supervision, and reviewing and editing, data curation; SA: research conceptualization, literature review, reviewing and editing, analysis, geographical information system (GIS) work, data curation; SG: literature review, reviewing, editing, analysis, geographical information system (GIS) work; RN: research conceptualization and methodology, data curation, reviewing and editing; MO: supervision, reviewing and editing; MN: data curation, reviewing and editing; ARG: conceptualization and methodology and reviewing and editing, data curation; AAH: reviewing and editing, analyses, and data curation; BK: research conceptualization and methodology, supervision, reviewing, and editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability

The main analysed data for this work are annual flow and precipitation data (for the number of stations, see Table A1 in the supplemental data online). This data were acquired (on 20 May 2020) from http://wrs.wrm.ir/amar/login.asp, with supporting data regarding dam information (on 20 May 2020) from http://dams.wrm.ir/.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2023.2238844

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