Fair water re-allocation: Lessons learnt from the perception of Iranian policy-makers about distributive justice

Abstract

Just water resource allocation is a critical policy issue, particularly in water-scarce areas. Governments claim that water allocation policies are adopted and implemented based on justice. However, justice is a value that still requires clear explanations and rules for implementation. This study mainly explores the perception of Iranian policy-makers in water resources concerning the distributive justice. For this purpose, the empirical evidence was collected from semi-structured, in-depth interviews, in which the interviewees answered exploratory open-ended questions. These interviews were conducted from November to February 2021 with 28 water policy-makers. They believed the current water allocation system should be improved to ensure justice, particularly to adapt to emerging challenges like climate change. Results showed that the prevailing understandings of policy-makers about distributive justice were based on principles like liberty, human right to water (drinking, sanitation and the environment), and “different principles” of Rawls. The latter emphasizes supporting the deprived and poor water users. Furthermore, policy-makers regarded “water-use efficiency” as the fairest criterion for water resource allocation. The general mindset of Iranian policy-makers, similar to other water-scarce countries, was consistent with the current trend of market-based approaches. However, to incorporate the prevailing perspective of policy-makers into water reform policies, we argued that water market development requires solving some fundamental issues first. These are the explicit identification of distributive justice conceptions, a clear legal definition of water ownership, and the entitlement to revise the permits based on water scarcity for fair water reallocation.