Financial Tribune - Managing limited resources of water has long been a challenge not only to water users but also policymakers in most countries. Iran is no exception.

Geological studies in Iran show that shortages of this vital resource will get worse before getting better in terms of severity and frequency particularly due to high and rising consumption.

Qasem Taqizadeh Khamesi, director of the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company of Iran (Abfa), who doubles as a deputy energy minister, says a new approach to ease the shortage is could be setting up water markets where buyers and sellers can trade water through short- and long-term leases and permanent sales of their water rights that can be within catchments, between catchments or along rivers, ISNA reported.

This system allows farmers to buy and sell water depending on actual need. Water trading has become a vital business tool for farmers in many countries such as Spain, Australia and the US to name a few, he said.