Allocation and access have been a challenge to Iran's Zayandehrud water governance. The Zayandehrud River is hydrologically shared between the Isfahan and Chaharmahal Provinces and is also technologically connected with other provinces. The river is overallocated; the aquifers are running out of water, and the terminal point of the river, Gavkhouni Salt Lake, is entirely dry. Those who have allotted water rights are struggling with the other parties over severe decrease in water supply to the area. Since 2012, the central government has been listening as the provinces argued their cases; then as an arbitrator it rendered the Nine- Point Act of Zayandehrud to resolve the disagreements among the stakeholders. However, this has resulted in agreements that are hardly actionable since the disputes are the outcomes of the complexities among three interlocked social, political and natural systems. This reflection chapter focuses first on providing the context to the Zayandehrud conflict so as to set a foundation to understand the complexity of the disputes, and second on reflecting on the presence (absence) and effectiveness of enabling condition versus the Nine- Point Act.

Zayandehrud Basin: An Overview

For the past two decades, drought has significantly affected both the surface and groundwater supplies across Iran. Apart from the classic example of Lake Urmia, nowhere is this more obvious than in Zayandehrud.1 Although the future is not accurately forecastable, it is foreseeable; the states around the Zayandehrud River Basin have a lot at stake and are therefore (re)searching reliable sources for their cities, industries and farmlands. As Figure 10.1 shows, Zayandehrud is a closed basin which is stretched out of mountainous parts of Chaharmahal through cities and floodplains and drains into the Gavkhouni Salt Lake.2 Table 10.1 describes the basin area to be about 41,000 sq. km with variable annual precipitation from 1,500 mm in the highlands to 50 mm in the desert of Varzaneh, which is the terminal point of the river. Zayandehrud has historically been the primary water source for the city of Isfahan3 providing water for 4.5 million people, and supplying several factory hubs, mega petrol refineries and power plants. As Tables 10.1 and 10.4 show, agriculture is the main user, with 5 per cent (about 120 mcm) of the total river water being consumed by the industries.