Ethical evolution in the management of water resources: The role of developed norms on decreasing groundwater usage in Iranian agricultural practices

Moslem Savari, Hamed Eskandari Damaneh and Hadi Eskandari Damaneh

Agricultural Water Management, 2025, vol. 318, issue C

Abstract: The sustainability and conservation of water resources, along with their efficient utilization, represent a significant global challenge today. Furthermore, the issues of water scarcity and a growing population have adversely impacted numerous regions worldwide. The agricultural sector accounts for the largest share of groundwater consumption, with many farmers resorting to illegal and unauthorized methods to excavate wells for irrigation purposes. Consequently, Iran ranks as the fifth highest country in terms of groundwater extraction. It is therefore crucial to conserve water resources and implement sustainable and economical irrigation practices to mitigate the issue of water scarcity in Iran. This study was undertaken with the primary objective of examining the factors that influence farmers' intentions to reduce groundwater consumption in the country. Utilizing a questionnaire survey method and structural equation modeling (SEM) the research targeted all farmers in the western basin of Jazmorian Wetland in Kerman Province, southern Iran, who rely on groundwater for crop irrigation. The expanded Norm Activation Model (NAM) served as the theoretical framework for this research, incorporating variables such as anticipated emotions, place attachment, and social media. Overall, the findings indicated that the proposed model accounts for 67.9 % of the variance in farmers' intentions regarding groundwater usage. Additionally, the results highlighted that personal norms and anticipated emotions exert the most significant influence on farmers' intentions to decrease groundwater consumption. This study not only addresses gaps in the theoretical literature but also offers valuable insights for policymakers focused on the sustainable management of groundwater resources.

Keywords: Groundwater resources; Sustainable water management; Irrigation water; Agricultural sector; Norm activation model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425004287
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:318:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425004287

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109714

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Water Management is currently edited by B.E. Clothier, W. Dierickx, J. Oster and D. Wichelns

More articles in Agricultural Water Management from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().