Reviving ancestral water management practices: A sustainable and resilient design approach addressing the flood-drought paradox in rural Ahvaz, Iran

Urbanization, shaped by economic, social, technological, environmental, and political factors, becomes more complex with catastrophic events like floods and droughts. Some areas suffer from both, trapped in a flood-drought paradox. This article focuses on a rural region of Ahvaz City in southwest Iran, proposing an architectural approach to address this paradox. By utilizing ancient water management methods, the region can overcome drought by harvesting floodwater. Contrary to centralized engineering solutions, this approach aims to provide ground-up, incremental, sustainable, and high-impact water management strategies, fostering resilience against environmental hardships. Based on the assumptions of this study regarding the borders of Maksar Biyuz agricultural lands, 2,625,000 m³, up to 10 % of the average floodwater volume reaching the area can be collected in a network of Gourabs, alleviating the water shortage for agriculture and animal husbandry. Additionally, approximately 17,000 m³ will be treated and stored in Ab-Anbar complex to provide year-round potable water for the 464 residents of the village. The schemes will be constructed with the active participation of villagers, using local knowledge to revive ancestral practices and initiate a self-healing process to address the ongoing flood-drought paradox in the community. This approach can also be applied to other regions facing similar challenges.