Iranian Researchers Design Platform to Preserve Underwater Resources
Researchers at an Iranian knowledge-based company which operates in the field of managing underground water resources in the plains of the country have designed the platform.
“The most important tools used to manage the water resources of the plains are the water bank and the water share market. The water share bank platform designed in this company allows farmers who work in a plain and use a shared watershed to receive and manage their water portion on this platform,” said Elaheh Faizollahi, the deputy of the managing director for the logistics affairs of the knowledge-based ‘Rahrowan Sepehr Andishe Houshmand’ company.
"By management here I mean that the farmers would know how much of their annual water share they have received, how much they can consume, how much of their share is left for them. Overall, they can have complete water accounting on this system," she added to explain about the platform.
“If these farmers can do their cultivation annually and in accordance with the model provided by the local agricultural administration and save a percentage of their annual water share, then, we have provided the condition in which the saved water could be provided on the platform called the water share market to other farmers or industries that need water,” Faizollahi further explained.
“Of this traded water, a portion remains in the aquifer's share, which is actually similar to a kind of tax for the traded water, which also helps to improve the balance of the aquifers,” she elaborated more.
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt).
She went on to note that their knowledge-based company is part of a holding company. “This company is the inventor of a type of smart water and electricity meter that has been installed and employed all over the country,” she continued.
She explained that their company installed an example of their water meters in Esfarayen plain in North Khorasan Province in northeast of Iran. “After installing this meter and after monitoring the underground water resources in that area for a year, it was seen that the drop in the underwater resources decreased by one meter, which means that there was a very good improvement. However, as time passed, it was observed that those conditions were not stable," the knowledge-based company’s deputy for logistics affairs added.
“Rahrwan Sepehr Andisheh Houshmand company after long investigation and research came to the conclusion that the management of underground water resources cannot remain stable only by means of a control tool, and if it does happen, it will have little stability. That is why a new product plan was written considering all aspects of groundwater management such as political, social, economic and technical aspects. They also realized that in order for the control tool to remain stable, the participation of people and farmers and all stakeholders in this area is needed. This is how this knowledge-based company was born that operated under the name the Sepehr Development Working Group,” Faizollahi went on to say.
“Such a plan (platform) can lead to the proper management of water resources for farmers and create miscellaneous income,” she said, adding, “Also, industries that need water can take advantage of this plan and purchase water that is not needed by farmers with the help of the water bank platform of this company.”
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