Co-Authored Research Article of UT Alumnus Published in PNAS, Mentioned by Nature

Dr. Mohsen Maghrebi, a UT doctoral graduate in Environmental Engineering with a concentration in Water Resources, co-authored a research article entitled “Anthropogenic Depletion of Iran’s Aquifers” with several other researchers (Dr. Ali Mirchi, Dr. Qiuhong Tang, Dr. Rabin Bhattarai, Dr. Mojataba Sadegh, Dr. Mojtaba Noury, Dr. Ali Torabi Haghighi, Dr. Bjørn Kløve, and Dr. Kaveh Madani) under the supervision of Dr. Roohollah Noori. The article was published in PNAS, and it also received an honorary mention in Nature for the great significance of its topic. 

The article reveals alarming water security threats associated with declining fresh groundwater quantity and quality due to many years of unsustainable use. The study concludes that the number of Iran’s prohibited and critically prohibited plains will continue to rise if the current trend of groundwater table decline persists throughout the 21st century under the current water management and dwindling renewable water. The article also provides insights into the environmental implications and limitations of water-intensive development plans that other water-scarce countries might adopt.