The Effect of Watershed Boundary Compatibility with Administrative Boundaries in the Optimal Management of Water Resources (Case Study: The Great Karoon Basin)

The water cycle is a large-scale system and water resources flow in nature according to the physiographic condition of the watershed and it is not limited to administrative boundaries based on human assumptions. Therefore, water resources should be managed at the watershed scale and under climate governance. However, in most areas where human societies live based on human assumptions, they mistakenly consider the territory of water resources to be within the same range of political borders. It breaks the chain of ecosystem relations and increases the complexity of the management of water resources. This issue has historical roots and stems from the limitation of technology in the past era and when administrative borders were formed. But in the current era, due to the advancement of technology and the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), as well as the increase in human knowledge about the inherent complexity of the water system, it has become possible to adapt the political boundaries to the boundaries of the watershed by producing new maps. Research literature shows that water resources and other environmental goods are better protected in countries where political borders and watershed borders are more compatible. Therefore, in the current article, by using the GIS and some other concepts of dynamic system analysis, this issue regarding the Karoon basin is the most challenging watershed in the country. The results of this research show that matching administrative borders with watershed borders is a necessary step for sustainable development and better allocation of water in the studied region.