Explaining the Hydropolitics Concept

آب و توسعه پایدار

Article 4, Volume 6, Issue 2 - Serial Number 13, December 2019, Pages 15-26   

Document Type: Conceptual Paper

DOI: 10.22067/jwsd.v6i2.75117

Authors

Hossein Mokhtari Hashi^{* 1}; Morad Kavianirad²

¹University of Isfahan

²Kharazmi University

Abstract

Water consumption is rapidly increasing due to population growth, urbanisation, development of agriculture and industry, etc. Also, factors such as climate change, changes in rainfall patterns, inefficient water distribution systems, and changes in water consumption pattern have led to the increase in water consumption compared to the volume of water (both surface and subsurface water resources). This has led to a spectrum of power relationships from cooperation to competition and tension between upstream and downstream communities as well as countries in shared water basins. This situation, especially in arid areas of the world will increase various tensions on local, national, and transnational scales. Findings indicate that the water crisis started a long time ago and will intensify in the future and water will be considered as a geopolitical issue. Political geography in the form of Hydropolitics, studies the cooperation and competition of interest groups on water resources at local, national, regional, and global levels to identify the interest groups’ behaviour in various areas of the world. It appears that water crisis plays an important role in relations between communities, especially in arid regions. Therefore, water will be the major concern of all developmental, security, and welfare approaches in many countries. According to the hydropolitics, in the future, the territorialisation of political-spatial units will be based on the water which is possible through coexistence and interaction.

Keywords

Geopolitics; Hydropolitics; Water Crisis; Climate Change and International Rivers

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