Examining of comprehensive watershed management approach records in Iran and some countries of the world

Authors
Ehsan Fathi 1
Ali Talebi 2
Mohammadreza ekhtesasi 3
Jamal Mosaffaie 4
1 Yazd University
2 Professor, Department of Watershed Management Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran. President of the Watershed Management Society of Iran
3 Professor, Department of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Desert Studies, Yazd University. Yazd . Iran
4 4. Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Institute (SCWMRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/wmji.2024.2027953.1066
Abstract
The comprehensive management of watershed resources is considered as a new principle for planning the development and management of water and soil resources with an emphasis on the social and economic characteristics of the region in order to provide a sustainable livelihood for the vegetation and users of a basin without vulnerability. Although each country has its own conditions, there are similarities in the challenges faced by watershed management, in particular water resource management. Therefore, it is important to examine the experiences of other countries. In this research, the experiences of comprehensive watershed management approaches at the national and transnational levels were reviewed. The main aim of these plans was to improve and preserve water and soil resources, taking into account the improvement of the livelihood of local communities. According to these studies, a comprehensive watershed management approach has resulted in achievements such as attracting people's participation in projects, protecting water and soil and preventing land degradation, increasing the income of basin residents, women's participation, reducing soil erosion, reducing pollution, etc. The use of successful experiences of countries and the presentation and implementation of the compiled model can serve as a guide for decision-making and action in the field of watershed management, thereby promoting the stability and development of the country's watersheds.
Keywords
Watershed
stakeholders
comprehensive management
watershed resources
  1. Bouwer, H. 2000. Integrated water management: emerging issues and challenges. Agricultural water management, 45(3), 217-228.
  2. Cabello, V., Willaarts, B.A., Aguilar, M., and del Moral Ituarte, L. 2015. River basins as social-ecological systems: Linking levels of societal and ecosystem water metabolism in a semiarid watershed. Ecology and Society, 20(3).
  3. Crook, B.J., and Decker, E. 2006. Factors affecting community-based natural resource use programs in Southern Africa. Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 22(3-4), 111-133.
  4. Beheim, E., Rajwar, G.S., Haigh, M., and Krecek, J. 2012. Integrated watershed management: perspectives and problems.
  5. Esmali, A., and Abdolahi, Kh. 2010. Watershed management and soil conservation. Ardabil University, Ardabil, Iran, 612 pp (In Persian).
  6. Gari, S.R., Guerrero, C.E.O., Bryann, A., Icely, J.D., and Newton, A. 2018. A DPSIR-analysis of water uses and related water quality issues in the Colombian Alto and Medio Dagua Community Council. Water Science, 32(2), 318-337.
  7. Hazbavi, Z., and Sadeghi, S.H.R. 2017. Watershed health characterization using reliability–resilience–vulnerability conceptual framework based on hydrological responses. Land degradation & development, 28(5), 1528-1537.
  8. Homauonfar, V., Darvishan A.D., and Sadeghi S.H.R. 2016. Effects of Soil Preparation for Laboratorial Erosion Studies on Surface Runoff. Journal of Watershed Management Research, 7(14), 60-68 (In persion).
  9. Hooper, B.P. 1997. Improving watershed management using an in novative integrated resources management approach in Australia. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering education and practice, 123(2), 57-61.
  10. Jahantigh, M. 2017. Study effect of watershed management on sediment control in dryland region (Case study Taftan basin). Iran-Watershed Management Science & Engineering, 10 (35), 81-88 (In Persion).
  11. Karimi, Z., and Talebi, A. 2022. Status of water and soil ecosystem services after the implementation of watershed projects (case study: Zayandehroud- Chelkhaneh watershed). Extension and Development of Watershed Management, 10(38), 68-82. (In persion)
  12. Karimpour Reihan, M., Salehpourjam, A., Kianian, M.K., and Jahani, D. 2007. Investigation of pedological criterion on land degradation in quaternary rock units, case study: Rude - shoor watershed area. Desert, 12: 77 – 84.
  13. Ko, J. 2009. Public Participation in Integrated Water Resource Management: Villages in Lao PDR and the Mekong River Basin (Master's thesis, University of Waterloo).
  14. Kotru, R. 2003. Watershed management experiences in GTZ-supported projects in India. Preparing for the next generation of watershed management programmes and projects, p.85.
  15. Lixian, W. 2002. Theory and Practice of Watershed Management in China. In Sustainable utilization of global soil and water resources (ed. J. Yoren). Proceedings of 12th International Soil Conservation Organization Conference. 26-31.
  16. Manning, N., and Seely, M. 2005. Forum for Integrated Resource Management (FIRM) in Ephemeral Basins: Putting communities at the centre of the basin management process. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, 30(11-16), 886-893.
  17. Mohseni Saravi, M., 2013. Hydrology of rangeland. st edn, Jahad Daneshgahi, Tehran, Iran, 233 (In Persian).
  18. Mosaffaie, J., Ekhtesasi, M.R., Dastorani, M.T., Azimzadeh, H.R. and Zare Chahuki, M.A. 2015. Temporal and spatial variations of the water erosion rate. Arabian journal of Geosciences, 8, 5971-5979.
  19. Mosaffaie, J., Nikkami, D., and Salehpour, J.A. 2019. Watershed management in Iran: History, evolution and future needs. 'Watershed management in Iran: history, evolution and future needs', Watershed Engineering and Management, 11(2), 283-300. (In persion)
  20. Motagh, M., Walter, T. R., Sharifi, M. A., Fielding, E., Schenk, A., Anderssohn, J., and Zschau, J. 2008. Land subsidence in Iran caused by widespread water reservoir overexploitation. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(16).
  21. Qi, H., Altinakar, M. 2013. Integrated watershed management with multi-objective landuse optimizations under uncertainty. Journal of irrigation and drainage engineering, 139 (3), 239–245.
  22. Sadeghi, S.H.R., Khaledi Darvishan, A., Vafakhah, M., Moradi Rekabdarkalaei, H.R. and Nasiri Khiyavi, A. 2021. Comprehensive and problem-oriented watershed management using strategic planning framework. Iranian Journal of Watershed Science and Engineering, 15(52), 63-66 (In Persian).
  23. Sadoddin, A., Najafinejad A., Asadi Nilvan, O. 2019. Comparison of Iran's water resources comprehensive plan with international principles of comprehensive water resources management. The 14th National Conference of Iran Watershed Science and Engineering (In Persian).
  24. Sadoddin, A., Sheikh, V. B., Ownegh, M., Najafi Nejad, A., and Sadeghi, S.H. R. 2016. Development of a National Mega Research Project on the Integrated Watershed Management for Iran. Environmental Resources Research. 4(2), 231-238 (In Persian).
  25. Salehpour Jam, A. 2006. Investigation of geological criterion on land degradation in geomorphological units, rude-shoor watershed area, M.Sc. thesis, Arid and mountain zones reclamation, Faculty of Natural resources, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran; 186 P (In Persian).
  26. Salehpour Jam, A., and Mosaffaie, J. 2023. Introducing the concept of a ladder of watershed management: A stimulus to promote watershed management approaches. Environmental Science and Policy, 147, 315-325.
  27. Salehpour Jam, A., and Mosaffaie, J. 2022. An analysis of the plans proposed by the representatives of the Islamic Council of Iran regarding the approval of the Comprehensive Watershed Management Law.16th National conference on Watershed Management Sciences and Engineering of IRAN. Shiraz (In Persian).
  28. Salehpour Jam, A., Mosaffaie, J., and Tabatabaei, M.R. 2021. Assessment of comprehensiveness of soil conservation measures using the DPSIR framework. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 193(1), 1-19.
  29. Salehpour Jam, A., Mosaffaie, J. and Tabatabaei, M.R. 2021. Management responses for Chehel-Chay watershed health improvement using the DPSIR framework. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, 23(4), 797-811.
  30. Sharma, R. 2001. Watershed at work. In Joshi MM, Dalal SK, Haridas CK, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi.
  31. Sheikh V., Ownegh M., Najafinejad A., and Mirghasemi SA. 2016. Review and comparative studies of national and global experiences of existing approaches in the dimensions of comprehensive watershed management. Publications of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, 1-298 (In Persian).
  32. Talebi, A., Salehpour Jam, A., Kalehhouei, M., and Mosaffaie, J. 2022. The new Approach in the worthy Governance Watershed and Sustainable Development. Extension and Development of Watershed Management, 9(35), 54-60 (In Persian).
  33. Teka, K., Haftu, M., Ostwald, M., and Cederberg, C. 2020. Can integrated watershed management reduce soil erosion and improve livelihoods? A study from northern Ethiopia. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, 8(3), 266-276.
  34. Thapa, P. S., Chaudhary, S., and Dasgupta, P. 2022. Contribution of integrated watershed management (IWM) to disaster risk reduction and community development: Lessons from Nepal. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 76, 103029.
  35. The Supreme Council of the Organization of Forests, Ranges and Watersheds of the country. 2012. An introduction to comprehensive management in watersheds. PP 73 (In Persian).
  36. Wang G.Y., and Innes J.L. 2005. Watershed Sustainability: Strategic and Tactical Level Assessment in the Mine River Watershed, China. Environmental Informatics Archives, 3, 76– 83.
  37. Wang, G., Mang, S., Cai, H., Liu, S., Zhang, Z., Wang, L. and Innes, J.L., 2016. Integrated watershed management: evolution, development and emerging trends. Journal of Forestry Research, 27, 967-994.