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Volume 40, Issue 4 (2025)
GeoRes 2025, 40(4): 347-359 |
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Received: 2025/10/25 | Accepted: 2025/12/7 | Published: 2025/12/20
Received: 2025/10/25 | Accepted: 2025/12/7 | Published: 2025/12/20
How to cite this article
Golkarami A, Fatemi M, Yousefi Shatoori M. Spatial-Political Analysis of Territorial Imbalances Resulting from Water Transfer Projects in the Zayandeh Rud Basin. GeoRes 2025; 40 (4) :347-359
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1- Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature & Humanities, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran
2- Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Humanities, Meybod University, Meybod, Iran
3- Department of Political Geography, Faculty of Geography, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Humanities, Meybod University, Meybod, Iran
3- Department of Political Geography, Faculty of Geography, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract (119 Views)
Aims: The expansion of water transfer projects in the Zayandeh-Rud watershed over the past two decades has exposed the basin's spatial and political structure to instabilities that, beyond the technical limitations of water, have led to territorial imbalances at regional and national scales. The aim of the research was to analyze the mechanisms underlying this imbalance from a spatial-political perspective and to present strategies for reducing it within the framework of planning governance.
Methodology: This research was conducted with a spatial-political analysis approach in the Zayandeh-Rood watershed between 2016 and 2023. Data were collected using documentary sources, and the SWOT strategic analysis model was used to identify factors affecting territorial imbalance. The weighting of internal and external factors was also done through internal and external factor evaluation matrices.
Findings: Water transfer projects reduced natural flows, ecological resilience, and environmental capacity, and reduced water security in source areas. In contrast, development benefits were concentrated in destination areas, and this process, in the socio-political dimension, exacerbated spatial inequality, increased institutional dependence, and deepened interprovincial tensions and ruptures.
Conclusion: Continuing the current trend could turn territorial imbalance into a structural situation and expose the future of water management to greater risks. Reducing this imbalance requires reforming inter-basin governance, reviewing water allocation policies, and strengthening local stakeholder participation within the framework of planning governance and a territorial balancing model.
Methodology: This research was conducted with a spatial-political analysis approach in the Zayandeh-Rood watershed between 2016 and 2023. Data were collected using documentary sources, and the SWOT strategic analysis model was used to identify factors affecting territorial imbalance. The weighting of internal and external factors was also done through internal and external factor evaluation matrices.
Findings: Water transfer projects reduced natural flows, ecological resilience, and environmental capacity, and reduced water security in source areas. In contrast, development benefits were concentrated in destination areas, and this process, in the socio-political dimension, exacerbated spatial inequality, increased institutional dependence, and deepened interprovincial tensions and ruptures.
Conclusion: Continuing the current trend could turn territorial imbalance into a structural situation and expose the future of water management to greater risks. Reducing this imbalance requires reforming inter-basin governance, reviewing water allocation policies, and strengthening local stakeholder participation within the framework of planning governance and a territorial balancing model.