Karkheh                                                                       

The Karkheh River Basin is, most notably, the eastern flank of the "cradle of civilization" (ancient Mesopotamia) and a boundary between the Arab and Persian cultures. This major river system of western Iran has unique agricultural and hydrological aspects; but also much in common with other catchments around the world: debilitating rural poverty and land degradation, low water and agricultural productivity, a dry climate, and growing upstream-downstream competition for water.

Changes in land use patterns in recent decades, especially overgrazing and conversion of natural pastures to rainfed cropping, have taken a heavy toll. Ninety percent of the upper watershed’s rangelands and 70 percent of its forests have been significantly degraded. At the same time, excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides is polluting groundwater, putting human health at serious risk. Surface waters, too, reflect the excesses of inappropriate farming practices.

The future of the Karkheh river basin and its people’s livelihoods clearly depends on more holistic, basin-wide management and monitoring of natural resources—water, soil, vegetation and livestock.

Here, the CPWF will contribute in two ways:

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