Residents of Yasuj protest Mandegan and Khersan-3 dams, warning of aquifer destruction, livelihood collapse, and “water export” from Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, demanding Pezeshkian halt mega-dam and Karun water-transfer projects.
On Tuesday, 27 Aban (18 November 2025), hundreds of residents of Yasuj, the capital of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, took to the streets to protest the water crisis and the construction of the Mandegan dam. They demanded a halt to the construction of the Mandegan and Khersan-3 dams and the protection of environmental and agricultural rights in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. According to environmental experts, dam-building in this province threatens both surface and groundwater resources.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “Incompetent officials, resign, resign” and “We will fight, we will die, we will take Dena back,” insisting on safeguarding the rights of the province’s people over their environment and stopping the implementation of these two dam projects. On the sidelines of the demonstration, some participants signed a petition calling for the suspension of the Mandegan and Khersan-3 dams.
At the Yasuj rally, environmental activists, responding to the government’s recent decision and the president’s comments, described the Mandegan and Khersan-3 projects as dangerous and incompatible with environmental principles and laws, and demanded their immediate halt.
On Monday, 19 Aban (10 November 2025), President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a meeting on water challenges in four central provinces, ordered that the construction and completion of the Kouhrang-3, Khersan-3, and Mandegan dams be accelerated, with the stated goal of securing water supply and exiting the “emergency water situation” in Isfahan, Yazd, and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari.State broadcaster IRIB’s Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad bureau reported that people’s groups from neighbouring provinces—including Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Bushehr, Fars, and even Isfahan and the county of Semirom—also took part in Tuesday’s gathering.
Policies of dam construction in Iran—especially in the fragile ecosystem of the Zagros mountain range—have become a vital point of contention. While dams like Mandegan are being built with the stated aim of supplying drinking and agricultural water in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, experts have issued stark warnings that they will destroy life, agriculture, and livelihoods in neighbouring Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad—described as the beating heart of the Zagros and the main source of major rivers such as the Karun.
Destruction of Aquifers and Local Livelihoods
Large-scale dam construction in this province has upset the fragile balance of the ecosystem and directly threatens surface and groundwater resources. The main consequence of these projects is a change in how aquifers are recharged. River water that once seeped into alluvial plains and fed groundwater tables is now trapped behind dams; a significant share is lost to high evaporation or unrecoverable seepage.
This reduction in inflows has drastically lowered groundwater levels in key downstream agricultural plains such as Dehdasht and Gachsaran. As a result, farmers have been forced to drill deeper wells, a process that ultimately destroys the traditional, agriculture-based economic structure of the region. Historical water rights have been ignored, and dam release regimes are mostly set to meet downstream needs—usually in Khuzestan.
An Existential Crisis and “Water Exports”
The environmental crisis in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad is rapidly turning into an economic and social crisis. Dam projects at the river sources, instead of bringing development, are effectively destroying aquifers, causing land subsidence, wiping out farmers’ livelihoods, and intensifying social tensions.
Experts warn that the current approach amounts to “exporting water” out of the province while “importing poverty and crisis” into Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad itself. They stress that this trend must be halted immediately to prevent this vital region from turning into a fully desertified region and to preserve the last lifeblood of the Zagros rivers.
Warnings over the Mandegan Dam in Dena
Rasoul Jarideh, a member of the academic staff at Rasam Institute of Higher Education and originally from the Dena region, has described the Mandegan dam project as harmful, unsustainable, and incompatible with Dena’s natural structure, warning of its far-reaching consequences.
Citing geological studies, Jarideh states that building the dam could lead to the disintegration of geological layers, soil degradation, increased mass movements on slopes, and the undermining of natural slope stability.
He emphasises that beyond geologic risks, the project is destroying Dena’s oak forests, disturbing wildlife habitats, degrading water resources, and reducing soil quality, delivering a severe blow to local agriculture.
Jarideh describes Dena as part of the people’s identity and history, and calls any intervention without scientific backing a betrayal of nature and a threat to future generations.
Social Consequences and Calls for a National Halt
Jarideh also warns that the consequences of the Mandegan dam go far beyond the environment and include major social and economic dimensions.
According to him, this project will reduce water available for agriculture, destabilise rural livelihoods, increase forced migration, and create social harms that will disrupt the balance of life for communities in Dena.
Stressing the need for intervention at the national level, he calls on President Pezeshkian to take a nationwide, forward-looking approach and order a complete halt to the construction of the Mandegan dam. Development, he insists, must be scientific, sustainable, and in harmony with nature, in order to prevent the irreversible destruction of one of the most important ecosystems of the Zagros.
The Mandegan project is one of several schemes to divert water from the headwaters of the Karun. It is being built in the Dena protected area on the Marbor river, one of the Karun’s main headwaters and among the country’s most valuable ecosystems. The dam is designed to transfer around 250 million cubic metres of water to Isfahan province to meet part of its domestic, agricultural, and industrial needs.
The project has faced strong opposition from the Department of Environment, which has so far refused to grant it an environmental permit.
Recently, Iranian civil society organisations, in an open letter to First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, sharply criticised the “illegal interference of various state bodies” in implementing Karun water transfer projects. In this letter, the organisations demanded transparent and participatory assessment involving civil society, and called for a national report on the environmental and social impacts of these projects.
