The Impact of Water Challenges on Social Security and Their Consequences for the Development of Khuzestan Province

Sohila Afsharpour

Authors

Sohila Afsharpour Employee of the khuzestan province water and wastewater company https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1309-3712

Keywords:

Water Insecurity, Social Security, Water Governance, Regional Development, Environmental Challenges, Social Cohesion, Khuzestan Province

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the impact of water-related challenges on social security and to identify their consequences for the development of Khuzestan Province. This qualitative study employed an applied, interpretive research design. The study population consisted of university faculty members, researchers, policy specialists, public-sector experts, and professionals in water resources management, environmental studies, sociology, social policy, security studies, regional planning, and sustainable development in Tehran. Participants were selected purposively based on relevant academic or professional expertise, and sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. A total of 24 participants were included. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews addressing water scarcity, drought, declining river flows, water quality, wetland degradation, governance, livelihood insecurity, migration, institutional trust, social cohesion, and developmental consequences. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis through iterative coding, categorization, constant comparison, and abstraction. MAXQDA software was used to organize and manage the qualitative data, and trustworthiness was enhanced through credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability procedures. The analysis identified eight major themes: structural and environmental water pressures, livelihood and economic insecurity, social instability and weakening of social cohesion, migration and demographic disruption, institutional distrust and governance challenges, deterioration in public health and quality of life, constraints on regional development, and intensification of social-security risks. Water insecurity was found to operate through a cascading pathway in which hydrological and environmental pressures weakened livelihoods, increased migration and perceived inequality, reduced institutional trust, intensified social tensions, and ultimately constrained agricultural, industrial, demographic, environmental, infrastructural, and institutional development. Feedback mechanisms also indicated that underdevelopment, human-capital loss, weak governance, and environmental degradation could further intensify future water insecurity. Water challenges in Khuzestan should be understood as an integrated environmental, social, security, and developmental issue requiring coordinated policies that combine sustainable water governance, ecological restoration, livelihood resilience, distributive justice, institutional trust, and balanced regional planning.

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