Abstract: This article aims to show that virtual water has historically been an adaptation strategy that enabled some arid regions to develop a prosperous economy without putting pressure on their scarce water resources. Virtual water is referred to as the total amount of water that is consumed to produce goods and services. As an example, in arid central Iran, the deficiency in agricultural revenues was offset by more investment in local industries that enjoyed a perennial capacity to employ more workers. The revenues of local industries weaned the population from irrigated agriculture, since most of their raw materials and also food stuff were imported from other regions, bringing a remarkable amount of virtual water. This virtual water not only sustained the region’s inhabitants, but also set the stage for a powerful polity in the face of a rapid population growth between the 13th and 15th centuries AD. The resultant surplus products entailed a vast and safe network of roads, provided by both entrepreneurs and government. Therefore, it became possible to import more feedstock such as cocoons from water-abundant regions and then export silk textiles with considerable value-added. This article concludes that a similar model of virtual water can remedy the ongoing water crisis in central Iran, where groundwater reserves are overexploited, and many rural and urban centers are teetering on the edge of socio-ecological collapse. History holds an urgent lesson on sustainability for our today’s policy that stubbornly peruses agriculture and other high-water-demand sectors in an arid region whose development has always been dependent on virtual water.

Abstract: Engineering heritage refers to a broad variety of items of social, economic, aesthetic or historic relevance, including roads, dams, buildings and supply networks. Due to their utilitarian nature, their heritage value is often overlooked. This occurs even with those infrastructures that have played an essential role in underpinning the daily existence of entire civilizations. Underground water-supply networks provide an excellent example. Although there are exceptions, water networks tend to be functional in design, rather than monumental. Moreover, they present intricate linear layouts that often span several kilometres. This means they are costly to maintain once their operational life is over, and that they are prone to abandonment and destruction. Devising a priori protection strategies is important to preserve these valuable cultural assets. The following pages present a method to map linear structures based on archive records and sparse material remains. The method is illustrated through its application to the Amaniel qanat, a water-supply gallery built in Madrid, Spain, in the early 17th Century. An appraisal of the known remains was carried out first, leading to an inventory of galleries, shafts, shaft caps and deposits. This was followed by a thorough survey of over one thousand handwritten manuscripts, including physical descriptions of the aqueduct, budget accounts or water metering campaigns, among other documents. Known remains and written evidence were matched against original and auxiliary maps to reconstruct the itinerary of the aqueduct. This led to the identification of sectors where it is still possible to find remains in good condition. Thus, a priori mapping is advocated a valuable technique to locate and preserve these remains, as well as to devise non-invasive surveys and establish heritage protection zones.

Abstract: The Qanat water systems (QWSs), the ancient water engineering systems in Iran belonging to the very distant past, have harvested groundwater from drainages to convey it toward the surface with no use of energy. The present article highlights the socio-economic aspects of the sustainability of the QWSs and gives a satisfactory explanation of why the QWSs should be restored. In doing so, we subscribe to the view that indigenous and scientific knowledge should be incorporated. The former serves to tackle the restoration of the QWSs, the latter contributes to the distribution of water into the farmlands as efficiently as possible. Measured by (a) resilience, (b) reliability, (c) vulnerability, and (d) sustainability, the GIS technique made clear the performance of the QWSs has, therefore, the worst condition observed in terms of resiliency; the best condition observed concerning the vulnerability. Moreover, the QWSs have intermediate performance in terms of reliability. Finally, the sustainability index (SI) classifies the QWSs into different bands, which provide explicit support to take priority of the selection of the QWSs for restoration. In conclusion, a theoretical framework has been drawn to keep the QWSs sustainable.

Abstract: With its arid and semi-arid climate, Iran claims about one-third of the world’s average annual precipitation. Accordingly, the present study investigated whether an effective water resources management (WRM) strategy (both groundwater and reservoir resources) could reduce groundwater drawdown while simultaneously providing secure enough water for preservation of agricultural activities and rural settlements. For this purpose, a comprehensive system dynamics (SD) model incorporating reservoir, surface-water, and groundwater resources was developed. Then, the model was implemented for the Nesa plain in Bam County, Iran, as an example. In this plain, the construction of a dam to supply drinking water to the cities of Bam and the Bam Industrial Zone had devastated the environment and human communities in the downstream areas, leading to the depopulation of as many as 104 villages in the Bam region. The results of the SD model revealed that the artificial recharge of the plain groundwater aquifer along with the management of the operation of the wells and increasing productivity would be very effective. In order to estimate future precipitation data, the SDSM statistical exponential microscale model was used to microscale the large CanESM2 scale model under two scenarios of RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The continuation of the current trend of the groundwater resources in the plain during the next 20 years will also cause a drop in water level of 8.3 m compared with the existing situation and a reduction of 41 m compared with the long-term average of 1980. Based on this modeling effort, upon releasing 60% of river flow, surplus to downstream demand, for recharging aquifer through artificial recharge projects, the rate of water table fall will decline significantly over a 20-year period and the amount of negative aquifer water balance would most likely improve from 65.5 to 35.17 million cubic meters annually.

Abstract: The city of Alcudia de Crespins, in the centre of the Valencia province (east of Spain), has an exceptional water distribution system that in the past served fresh water to many houses in the town. This system is formed by more than one km of tunnels and underground cisterns, and dates probably in the late medieval times, while it has been in use and suffering modifications until 1955. This paper presents the structure and characteristics of such exceptional system, and explains the functioning parameters of the infrastructure.