Investigating the Consequences of Piped Water Transfer Project to Agricultural Lands in Sistan Villages

Today, the management of water resources plays an important role in the country's sustainable development process. Despite the many droughts, one of the most economical ways of transporting water with very little wastage is transporting water with pipes. Due to the special climate of southeast Iran, the Sistan region has always suffered from limited water resources, and due to its special geological conditions and the lack of access to underground water and the absence of an internal watershed, it is dependent on the water of the Hirmand river, whose watershed is in Afghanistan. The condition of this catchment area due to the recent droughts, the increase in population and the amount of water taken from this river, the construction of numerous dams, and the increase in the cultivated area has caused the amount of water delivered to Sistan not to be based on the agreements between the two countries, which has caused a water crisis in the Sistan region. The purpose of this research is to predict the economic, social, physical and environmental consequences of the plan to transfer water through pipes to agricultural lands in Sistan region.

The current research method is descriptive-analytical and based on library, documentary and survey studies and was investigated in 1400. The required information was collected by designing and completing a questionnaire with the help of experts related to the water transfer project and rural experts and was analyzed by ARAS model and statistical methods and SPSS and ArcGIS software.

The results of the research, based on the severity of the consequences of the water transfer project, confirm that rural districts located in the east of the Sistan region (including rural districts of Khajea Ahmad, Zahak, Khamak and Jazinak, which are adjacent to the entrance of the Hirmand river to this region) have the highest amount of negative effects of the implementation of the water transfer project. Also, the results of the Friedman test show that at the level of 99% confidence, there is a significant difference between the level of negative consequences of the plan in different economic, social, physical and environmental dimensions. On the other hand, the results of the research in examining the overall results of the positive and negative consequences of the plan to transfer water by pipes to agricultural lands confirm that despite the existence of negative consequences in all dimensions, the overall results of the plan are positive and the most effects of the plan with averages of 0.252 and 0.230 are related to its social and economic dimensions, respectively.

Despite the fact that the implementation of the piped water transfer project to agricultural lands is aimed at the fair distribution of incoming water from Afghanistan (stored in the Nimha well) and in order to prevent the migration of rural households in Sistan and  despite the predominance of short-term positive consequences over the negative aspects of the plan, it will be inevitable to accept its long-term negative consequences, which requires the adoption of optimal approaches to reduce negative consequences. According to the results, in order to achieve the goals of the plan and provide a sustainable water source and focus on reducing the negative consequences of the plan, it is suggested to pursue Sistan's water rights through diplomacy and strengthening bargaining power with Afghans.