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History
Received: 2025/12/27 | Accepted: 2026/02/24
Received: 2025/12/27 | Accepted: 2026/02/24
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Abstract (108 Views)
Objectives: The expansion of water transfer projects in the Zayandeh Rud watershed over the past two decades has caused spatial and political instabilities within the basin, which extend beyond technical water management and have led to territorial imbalances at both regional and national scales. This study aims to analyze the mechanisms generating these imbalances from a spatial-political perspective and to propose strategies to mitigate them within the framework of spatial governance. The research seeks to demonstrate how these projects, by disrupting the relationships between source and destination regions, have redistributed power, altered exploitation patterns, intensified social tensions, and reproduced territorial imbalances.
Methodology: The study is descriptive–analytical in nature. Data were collected through documentary sources, and the SWOT strategic analysis model was employed to identify the factors influencing territorial imbalance. The weighting of internal and external factors was conducted using the IFE and EFE matrices.
Findings: The findings indicate that water transfer projects have reduced natural flows, decreased ecological resilience, degraded environmental capacities, and lowered water security in source regions. Conversely, developmental benefits have been consolidated in destination areas. In the socio-political dimension, this trend has led to intensified spatial inequality, increased institutional dependence, and deepened inter-provincial tensions and fractures.
Conclusion: The continuation of the current trend could transform territorial imbalances into structural conditions, posing greater risks for future water management. Mitigating these imbalances requires reforming inter-basin governance, revising water allocation policies, and strengthening local stakeholder participation within the framework of spatial governance and a balanced territorial model.
Methodology: The study is descriptive–analytical in nature. Data were collected through documentary sources, and the SWOT strategic analysis model was employed to identify the factors influencing territorial imbalance. The weighting of internal and external factors was conducted using the IFE and EFE matrices.
Findings: The findings indicate that water transfer projects have reduced natural flows, decreased ecological resilience, degraded environmental capacities, and lowered water security in source regions. Conversely, developmental benefits have been consolidated in destination areas. In the socio-political dimension, this trend has led to intensified spatial inequality, increased institutional dependence, and deepened inter-provincial tensions and fractures.
Conclusion: The continuation of the current trend could transform territorial imbalances into structural conditions, posing greater risks for future water management. Mitigating these imbalances requires reforming inter-basin governance, revising water allocation policies, and strengthening local stakeholder participation within the framework of spatial governance and a balanced territorial model.