Causes and Consequences of the Conflict among Agricultural Water Beneficiaries in Iran

This study aimed to analyze the causes and consequences of agricultural water conflicts among agricultural water beneficiaries in the irrigation network of Doroodzan dam, Iran. This research applied mixed-method and descriptive analysis, which was done in two qualitative and quantitative phases. The results showed that the causes of water conflicts can be divided into two groups of controllable and uncontrollable factors. The findings revealed that the main causes of agricultural water conflict in the studied area were ‘water scarcity’, ‘drought’, ‘physical structure of the Doroodzan dam irrigation network’, and ‘mismatched size of the irrigation network with Doroodzan dam’s water capacity’ as uncontrollable factors. Furthermore, ‘weakness of governmental water management’, ‘lake for local management of water resources by farmers’, ‘government’s reluctance about farmers’ participation’, and ‘farmers’ reluctance to participate in water management’ were identified as controllable factors. In this study, most of the conditions identified as consequences of water conflicts had ‘socio-economic’ and ‘agro-environmental’ aspects. Finally, based on the findings, a model was designed to determine the causes and consequences of agricultural water conflict. To break the causes and consequences cycle of water conflicts in Iran’s agriculture, the most important solution is shifting from governmentality to governance in water resources management.