AN OVERVIEW OF WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN I.R. IRANFOCUSING ON THE USE OF UNCONVENTIONAL WATERRESOURCES

I.R. Iran with an area of ۱,۶۴۸ million km۲ has an ۸۸ million populations with higherconcentrations of people in the northern and western regions. From a topographical view, Iranconsists over ۵۷% mountains and six main hydrological catchments. Its average annualprecipitation is about ۲۴۲ mm, which is a non-uniform distribution throughout the country: about۵۲% of precipitation occurs in ۲۵% of the area. The capacity of different operational waterinfrastructures in Iran is reviewed, including storage and diversion dams, irrigation and drainagenetworks, urban water, wastewater and sanitation, hydropower, and desalination plants. Accordingto estimates, the total water shortage in the southern coasts of the country in ۲۰۲۲ will be about۶۲۰ million m۳/year. Therefore, it is planned to produce water via water desalination plants for thesouthern coastal strip of the country that includes the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan,Hormozgan, Bushehr, and Khuzestan with an area of about ۳۰۰,۰۰۰ km۲ and a population of ۶million people .It is very important to pay attention to the interactions of water supply from desalination plants,energy consumption, and environmental protection. Production of brine and pollutants will beimportant issues for the Nexus.