SHUSHTAR HISTORIC HYDRAULIC SYSTEM: THE EPITOME OF SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO WATER MANAGEMENT

In the 20th century, the nature has been significantly transformed by the modern methods of water management. The traditional methods of exploitation and management of water resources, used for thousands of years in order to adapt the natural context to the requirements of human life, have been replaced by the new means and methods aimed at exploitation of nature in order to provide the comfort of human beings and to put an end to the plights of the ancient world. The very approach has been similarly applied to several other aspects of human life so as nature serves as a scene representing the ambitions of modern era. Dams are a symbol of this era and the most significant symbol of modern approach toward management of water resources. Many writers, leaders, and theorists of the past seven decades, have considered dams and the pertinent hydraulic systems as significant symbols of national pride, superiority of human talent over nature, the source of electric power, water and food, a means of controlling foods and reviving deserts, a guarantee of national independence, and the sign of development.1 Now, after abandoning the traditional know-how and applying the modern methods of water management for nearly one century, the very high expectations are not fulfilled. Seemingly, all these shifts have brought disadvantages rather than advantages. However, the ideological approach toward the potentials of modern era, along with the benefits provided for the men of power and capital, have deprived human being of a realistic judgment about the efficiency of the way taken for a century.