ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT: This research aims to represent the problem of drought and water scarcity in Iran and different approaches for coping with and preparing for it. Iran is located in an arid and semi-arid region with 250 mm average annual precipitation (varies from 50 mm to more than 1600 mm). Due to the unfavorable distribution of rainfall and water resources and growing need for fresh water, to fulfill water demands and recover the yearly and seasonal fluctuations, it is needed for the country to prepare for drought and provide a better condition for utilization of water. Fast growing rate of the population, climate change, over-use of water resources, frequent droughts, desertification, mismanagement of water resources (supply and demand gaps), demand of more water in different sectors, decreasing of water quality and using traditional methods of irrigation, are the main reasons of water scarcity in the country. In order to prepare for drought and cope with it, some of the main directives of past and present experiences are discussed in this presentation; those are: developing national strategies and action plans, developing monitoring and early warning systems, developing temporal sequences patterns between different stages of drought, and finally developing drought mitigation strategies, which are the chains of drought preparedness strategies.