Clarifying the institutional barriers to adapting the water resources system to climate change in the Qarranqu basin

The present study was carried out to identify and analyze the institutional barriers to the adaptation of the water resources system of the Qaranqo Basin to climate change. For this purpose, the government organizations related to the management of water resources of this basin were identified, and by using targeted sampling, the actors who had responsibility or expertise in climate change adaptation programs or water scarcity adaptation programs were selected. After conducting 22 interviews, theoretical saturation was achieved; each interview lasted an average of 30 minutes and was conducted in the winter of 2022. By analyzing and coding the text of the interviews, barriers to adaptation to climate change were identified. The most important institutional barriers identified are: lack of comprehensiveness of laws and regulations, lack of research and development conditions, lack of information production, lack of free access to information, lack of specialization, lack of accountability, lack of participation of all key actors, centralization, and weakness in the capacity of learning. Next, in order to investigate the dynamic relationships between barriers, the qualitative system dynamics approach and causal diagrams (CLD) were used. By drawing CLD diagrams and explaining the feedback loops between the institutional barriers to adaptation, in order to provide suggestions and policy measures, five patterns were identified and analyzed, and then suggestions were made for intervention to improve the status of the patterns. Finally, the leverage points and intervention measures were analyzed in the intervention level framework (ILF).