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Groundwater Depletion and Salinity in Yazd, Iran

by Zia Hosseinipour, AScI Corp, Athens, United States,
Attaollah Ghobadian, AScI Corp, Athens, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Hydraulics/Hydrology of Arid Lands (H?AL)

Abstract:

The central Iranian plateau contains part or all of five provinces and covers more than a third of the total area of Iran (Figure 3). This area has one of the most unfavorable hydrologic conditions on earth, and as a result its water resources are very limited. With a few exceptions the only sources of usable water are the deep regional aquifers. This arid region is bordered on three sides by high mountain ranges which all but block the clouds coming from the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. This study describes the results of more than two years of intensive hydrologic, erosion, salinity and water resources investigations in the central province of Yazd with an area of about 60,000 square kilometers and a population of more than half a million. The findings of this study lead the investigators to recommend drastic changes in the management of groundwaters in the region. Prime among these changes should be the abandonment of the customary agricultural and irrigation practices and limiting or changing them to save water to relieve the present stress on the aquifers.

Subject Headings: Water resources | Salt water | Groundwater management | Water management | Water conservation | Developing countries | Groundwater depletion | Iran | Middle East | Asia | Persian Gulf | Caspian Sea

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