Water Security Assessment in Large Watershed of Central Plateau of Iran

Given Iran's location in the dry belt of the world and the lack of a comprehensive and accurate assessment of water security in the country, the study of variability in this category as one of the important dimensions of national security to develop appropriate management models seems important and inevitable. The present study aims to investigate and evaluate the water security in the large watershed of Central Plateau due to its large size and high population in terms of eight important sub-indicators including per capita renewable water resources, the intensity of water use, water productivity, investment in water infrastructure, water quality, access to drinking water and water pollution management, green cover changes and changes in large water bodies were established and implemented over a 20-years with 5-year intervals (1996 to 2016). The calculated values ​​for water security are 0.356, 0.330, 0.363, 0.291, and 0.291 respectively for 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016 and the average during the twenty years of research was 0.326 units. The results also show that per capita renewable water resources and index of water use have the greatest impact on water security based on the prioritization of factors affecting water security. It is necessary to establish sustainable management of water resources while taking into account political, social, and economic requirements and paying attention to the issue of water security by the executive and legislative bodies in order to promote national security to establish a proper balance in the use of water resources and water security and Consequently, national security will be improved.