A Sociological Analysis of Iran's Water Crisis: A Historical-Institutional Approach to Understanding State Intervention in Water Resource Management in Contemporary Era

فصلنامه آب و توسعه پایدار

Article 3, Volume 12, Issue 2 - Serial Number 36, September 2025

Document Type: Applied Article

DOI: 10.22067/jwsd.v12i2.2412-1388

Authors

maryam mahmoodi¹; Hossein Mirzaei^{* 2}; Ali yousofi³; Mohamad Fazeli⁴

¹Iran water policy research Institute

²social science group, Letter and Humanities Faculty, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

³Social Science Group, letter and humanities Faculty, Ferdowsi university of Mashhad

⁴Social science group, letters and human sciences Faculty, Shahid Beheshti university

Abstract

The water crisis is one of the most important crises in Iran, and solving it requires examining the causes. The empirical literature indicates that the primary cause of Iran's water crisis lies first in the state's entry into water management and subsequently in its inefficiency in managing water resources. However, this literature does not address why and how the state entered water governance and centralized its control. Inspired by Mollinga's embeddedness approach and historical institutionalism, and utilizing the concepts of context and critical juncture, this study examines the history of state intervention in water governance and identifies key junctures. Findings reveal that the water governance context, including empowering farmers to pay taxes, drought and food supply needs, developmental approaches during modern state formation, and the class base of parliamentary representatives and officials, led to the first critical juncture: the establishment of the Irrigation Organization in 1943. This organization allowed for the state's participatory involvement in water management. Over the next 20 years, contextual changes—such as increased state financial resources, shifts in officials' class structures, suppression of opposition, the rise of Mohammad Reza Shah's power, and the use of water projects for state-building—established the hydraulic mission among elites. To implement this mission, the state required a powerful bureaucracy, realized with the Ministry of Water and Power's establishment. Thus, the state gained centralized and exclusive control over water governance.

Keywords

Water Institution; Water Crisis; Government Intervention Point; Independent Irrigation Agency; Ministry of Water and Power

References