The Energy-Water Nexus in Iran: The Political Economy of Energy Subsidies for Groundwater Pumping
The depletion of groundwater resources due to irrigation water pumping in Iran has become a serious problem that threatens both rural life and sustainable development in the country. The latest estimates show that 70% of groundwater resources have been ov
- PDF / 676,471 Bytes
- 22 Pages / 504.567 x 720 pts Page_size
- 81 Downloads / 195 Views
domestic and industrial consumers but failed to do so for the agricultural sector. We discuss the political economy of implementing these reforms using the World Bank’s framework for policy reforms analysis. This overview study argues that the political overrepresentation of rural interests in Iranian politics impeded a successful reform implementation. Negative economic shocks to the Iranian rural economy may be counteracted by developing adjustment strategies that promote alternative livelihoods for residences of rural areas. Neglecting the political economy surrounding Iranian energy subsidies may further delay reform implementation and lead to further water depletion.
Abstract
The depletion of groundwater resources due to irrigation water pumping in Iran has become a serious problem that threatens both rural life and sustainable development in the country. The latest estimates show that 70% of groundwater resources have been overexploited over the last 15 years. The number of deep and shallow wells used for groundwater irrigation almost doubled in the last decade, reaching more than one million, which includes both permitted and non-permitted wells. Skyrocketing water consumption has become one of the primary reasons behind the devastation of groundwater resources. Cheap energy, resulting from energy subsidies, which have been provided for many years, made deep water pumping possible and huge investments in deepening and relocating wells feasible. This study focuses on the Iranian government’s unsuccessful attempt to reform its subsidy policy in December of 2010 when they tried to phase out energy subsidies for groundwater pumping, however, they only did so for
T. Jamali Jaghdani (&) V. Kvartiuk Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Theodor‐Lieser‐Str. 2, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany e-mail: [email protected] V. Kvartiuk e-mail: [email protected]
Keywords
Energy subsidies Groundwater depletion Irrigation water Political economy Price reform
1
Introduction
Adopted by the United Nations in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030 (UNDP 2018). All SDGs by design are an integrated set of global priorities and objectives that are fundamentally
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 S. Hülsmann and M. Jampani (eds.), A Nexus Approach for Sustainable Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57530-4_8
107
108
interdependent (ICSU 2017). Three SDGs are of special interest with regard to the water-energyfood (WEF) nexus: (1) end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (SDG2); (2) ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG6); and (3) ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all (SDG7) (Ringler et al. 2016). These goals are interlinked and cannot be dealt with separately (ICSU 2017). For instance, in
Data Loading...
