Requirements for Establishing an Effective Governance System for Water Resources in Iran: A Systematic Review



In recent years, increasing pressures on Iran’s water resources—such as overexploitation, unsustainable use, and institutional fragmentation—have underscored the need to revise existing governance approaches. Good governance, as a systematic and interdisciplinary approach, is regarded as a foundation for the sustainable, participatory, and efficient management of natural resources. This article adopts a systematic review methodology combined with analytical insight to examine the various dimensions of water governance, focusing on Iran’s institutional, legal, and climatic contexts. The findings indicate that achieving good governance requires institutional reform, integration of policy-making, regulatory, and implementation functions, enhancement of stakeholder participation mechanisms, and strategic utilization of international comparative experiences. Finally, drawing on comparative analysis and theoretical frameworks, the study proposes context-specific recommendations for designing a tailored governance model for water resources in Iran, offering guidance for strategic policy-making and decision-making in this critical domain.