Explaining the Factors Influencing Sustainable Water Resource Governance in Rural Areas at Risk of Water Scarcity (Case Study: Rural Areas Surrounding Parishan Lake)

The water scarcity crisis in Iran's rural settlements, especially in inland water basins, is not only caused by natural limitations and climate change but is also closely linked to weak decision-making and water resource governance. In recent years, villages surrounding Parishan Lake have faced a sharp decline in surface and groundwater resources, reduced agricultural production, and livelihood instability, intensifying local conflicts and weakening social participation. This highlights the need to examine the factors affecting sustainable water resource governance. This study aimed to explain the causal structure and network weights of six dimensions—cultural, infrastructural, environmental, social, economic, and institutional–organizational—and 22 related variables. Data were collected through documentary and field methods using a DEMATEL questionnaire completed by 30 local experts and were analyzed through the integrated DANP model. The results showed that the institutional–organizational dimension was the most influential factor (Ri = 8.3934; Ri − Cj = +8.1204), while the social dimension was the most affected (Cj = 8.3688; Ri − Cj = −8.1252). Causal analysis placed the institutional–organizational and cultural dimensions in the cause group, the social, economic, and infrastructural dimensions in the effect group, and the environmental dimension in a balanced position. Network weighting highlighted the cultural factor as the most important (0.2046) while ranking the institutional–organizational dimension fifth (0.1501), indicating that sustainable water governance requires strengthening both institutional mechanisms and cultural components.
Introduction
Water is the foundation of rural settlement sustainability, food security, agricultural activity, and environmental balance. In recent decades, water resource shortages, increased withdrawals from surface water and groundwater resources, climate change, growing demand, and institutional incoherence have caused the water crisis to move beyond a purely natural issue and become a multidimensional governance challenge. This issue is particularly acute in arid and semi-arid rural areas, where household livelihoods are highly dependent on water resources. The villages surrounding Parishan Lake in Kazerun County provide a clear example of this situation. The drying up of the lake, the decline in groundwater levels, the increase in licensed and unlicensed wells, the reduction in cultivated land, the rising cost of water supply, and the emergence of local conflicts indicate that the existing crisis is not merely the result of drought but is also closely linked to weaknesses in water resource governance. Focusing on six dimensions—cultural, infrastructural, environmental, social, economic, and institutional–organizational—this study explains the causal structure and relative importance of the factors affecting sustainable water resource governance in the villages surrounding Parishan Lake.
Materials and Methods
This study is applied in purpose and descriptive–analytical in nature, and it was conducted using a deductive approach. The required data were collected through documentary and field studies. First, by reviewing the theoretical and empirical literature, the factors affecting sustainable water resource governance were identified and classified into six main categories: cultural, infrastructural, environmental, social, economic, and institutional–organizational. The study area included 27 villages located around Parishan Lake in the two rural districts of Balyan and Famur. The statistical population consisted of local managers, experts from executive agencies related to water and natural resources, and local individuals familiar with the issue of water scarcity. A purposive sampling method was used, and ultimately 30 completed questionnaires formed the basis of the analysis. The data collection instrument was a specialized DEMATEL questionnaire, in which the degree of influence of each factor on the others was measured through pairwise comparisons using a five-point scale. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts, and its reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which was 0.90, indicating an acceptable level of reliability. The data were analyzed using the combined DANP model, which integrates DEMATEL and network-based weighting to identify causal relationships, distinguish influential and influenced factors, and determine the final weights.
Results and Discussion
The results obtained from the total relation matrix indicated that the examined factors exhibit reciprocal, network-based, and nonlinear relationships, and that their degrees of influence and dependence are unequal. Based on the row-sum value, the institutional–organizational factor, with a value of 8.3934, had the greatest influence and was identified as the most important driver of sustainable water resource governance. This finding highlights the role of institutional coordination, transparency, accountability, managerial capacity, and law enforcement in organizing the region's water resources. In contrast, the social factor, with a dependence value of 8.3688, showed the highest level of dependence on other factors. Therefore, public participation, cooperation among water users, and local conflicts are affected by institutional performance, economic conditions, infrastructure, and cultural patterns. The difference between influence and dependence indicated that the institutional–organizational and cultural factors belong to the causal group, whereas the social, economic, and infrastructural factors fall into the effect group. The environmental factor occupied a position close to equilibrium. In the network-weighting stage, the DANP results showed that the cultural factor, with a weight of 0.2046, had the highest structural importance. It was followed by the infrastructural factor with a weight of 0.1792, the economic factor with 0.1666, the social factor with 0.1614, the institutional–organizational factor with 0.1501, and the environmental factor with 0.1381. At the variable level, "culture of participation in water resources management" with a weight of 0.0552, "coordination among different institutions" with 0.0545, "status of licensed and unlicensed wells" with 0.0538, and "regional rainfall and drought conditions" with 0.0518 were identified as the most important variables in the network.
Conclusion
The findings showed that the water crisis in the villages surrounding Parishan Lake is not a one-dimensional phenomenon and cannot be explained solely by reduced rainfall or drought. The structure of water resource governance in the region follows a pattern of "institutional causal concentration and social reflection"; in other words, the weakness or strength of responsible institutions has the greatest effect on the entire system, and its consequences become evident in public participation, cooperation, and local conflicts. The weighting results also indicated that the cultural factor holds the most important position in the structural sustainability of the system. Therefore, achieving sustainable water resource governance requires simultaneous attention to two main axes: first, reforming institutional structures, increasing inter-agency coordination, strengthening supervision over water withdrawals, and improving transparency; and second, promoting a culture of participation, reforming consumption patterns, and raising public awareness. Policies focused solely on technical or environmental measures, without considering institutional and cultural drivers, will not lead to the long-term sustainability of water resources. The simultaneous activation of the institutional lever and the cultural lever is therefore the most effective pathway for improving sustainable water resource governance in the villages surrounding Parishan Lake.