Iran-Water Resources Research

Iran-Water Resources Research

Analysis of Water Stakeholder Relations in Hashtgerd Study Area

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Saman Noorian 1
Hamed Ketabchi 2
Ali Bagheri 2
1 M.Sc., Department of Water Engineering and Management, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Water Engineering and Management, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/iwrr.2025.512548.2841
Abstract
One of the major challenges in water governance in Iran is managing various stakeholders involved in water-related issues. In the Hestgerd study area, the water problem is highly complex due to the diversity of stakeholders and the inherent conflicts of interest among them. The lack of clarity in how these stakeholders fulfill their roles and secure their interests has created significant challenges in water-resources-management and hindered effective-collaboration. Therefore, identifying key stakeholders, understanding their motivations, and analyzing their interests and power dynamics must be prioritized to design targeted policy interventions. This study identifies water-stakeholders in Hestgerd through a network-analysis-of-issues raised in interviews with experts-and -stakeholders, emphasizing the mapping of relationships among stakeholders. Network-analysis reveals that influential-individuals and celebrities, industries, the Alborz-Regional-Water-Authority, the Electricity-Distribution-Company, large-landowner-farmers, villa-owners, and urban/rural-councils exert the most power and influence over other stakeholders in protecting water-resources. The imbalance of power among stakeholders in this area can lead to various violations and challenges. Additionally, the 23-identified stakeholders exhibited 7-distinct interests, with economic-gain being the most-frequent-motivation. Economic-interests emerged as the primary driver of responses to environmental-changes and decision-making processes. The study warns that persisting with top-down, one-size-fits-all approaches in Hestgerd’s water-governance will only deepen existing divides. To break this impasse, adaptive-governance-mechanisms must be designed to recognize the capacities and limitations of each stakeholder group, enabling equitable-participation and fairer-resource-distribution. In other words, meaningful-change can only occur when policies are shaped not by top-down directives but through a dialogue among stakeholders rooted in an understanding of the institutional-social roots of the crisis.
Keywords
Water governance
Stakeholders network
Power relations
Stakeholder Interests Analysis
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 15 March 2025
  • Revise Date 21 May 2025
  • Accept Date 11 June 2025