GEOPOLITICAL CHALLENGES OF TRANSBOUNDARY GROUND WATER RESOURCES GOVERNANCE, WITH EMPHASIS ON IRAN

Interodaction From the past half-century, groundwater has become a vital source to supply water demand so that it accounts for 31 percent of the world's fresh water. The aquifers are ideal resources for local users, creating easy access and optimized storage. Due to increasing demand and competition over shared water resources, governance of these critical resources has changed from a local issue into a national and international challenge. Due to increasing dependency on groundwater, new challenges and problems about ownership, use, access, protection and development of these resources occurs, particularly when they cross political borders. In a continuous study, 592 international aquifers has identified that most of them belong to the continents of Europe and Asia. In some areas such as the Middle East, transboundary aquifers playa key role in providing irrigation and drinking water. So far, in comparison to surface water, there have been very little studies on international shared ground water governance in the world and especially in our country as well.