The specialized discussion on water, entitled “Water: Life, Crisis and Hope,” was held online on Saturday, 15 August 2026, with Farzad Heydari as the guest speaker.

The session approached the water crisis not simply as a matter of declining rainfall or water scarcity, but as a complex issue connected to environmental, social, and governance challenges. The discussion addressed the condition of Iran’s groundwater resources, the drying of rivers and lakes, land subsidence, water pollution, and sand and salt storms.

One of the main themes of the session was water ownership and governance. Participants considered the fundamental question, “Who owns water?” and discussed the relationship between access to water resources and ownership rights. One issue raised was whether drilling a well and gaining access to groundwater can establish ownership over water, or whether water should primarily be regarded as a public resource.

Another major part of the session focused on inter-basin water transfer projects. While such projects may be proposed as a way to address water shortages in receiving regions, the discussion emphasized that their consequences for source basins must also be carefully considered. Potential impacts include the drying of rivers, increased land subsidence, ecosystem degradation, dependence on transferred water, and the emergence or intensification of water-related conflicts. International experiences with water transfer projects were also discussed.

The session also explored a number of possible responses to current water challenges. Wastewater treatment and reuse, smart drip irrigation, public education and behavioural change, and integrated water resources management were among the approaches highlighted as part of a broader path towards more sustainable water management.

The discussion ultimately returned to a central question: how can the needs of today’s society be reconciled with the ecological capacity of the land? From this perspective, managing water is not simply about managing a natural resource; it is also about shaping the future of the land and the generations that will depend on it.

“Water: Life, Crisis and Hope” was the sixth event in the specialized water series, which seeks to provide a space for scientific and interdisciplinary dialogue on the different dimensions of the water crisis.