This book examines the situation of Qanats in the countries Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Oman, and Pakistan and focuses on the destiny of Qanats in this region at present. The book also takes up the problems which lie ahead for this technology in confrontation with modernity.

Qanat is something beyond a technique for extracting groundwater.No doubt the economic and social life and the Iranian culture were dependent on qanat over the past three thousand years. There is no human phenomenon in Iran and maybe in the world as useful and sustainable as qanat system. It is said that qanat marks the dawn of an evolution regarding water mining techniques to nourish human civilizations. Therefore qanat is anchored in human society and civilization and it is not only useful but also demands our efforts to identify qanat system. Iran enjoys a considerable number of qanats and it
is easier for us to identify them and shed light on their unknown aspects, given that they are more available to us.

In connection with the final declaration of the International Conferenceon Qanats which was held in Yazd, Iran, in 2000, the Director-General was invited to launch a special project on Qanats for revitalizing traditional technologies in view of
sustainable water use in arid zones at the 29th session of UNESCO General Conference. To this connection, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran formally submitted a detailed proposal to UNESCO for the establishment of the International Centre on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures in Yazd /Iran under the auspices of UNESCO, which finally met with the approval of the 32nd session of the General Conference of UNESCO. According to this approval, an agreement on the establishment of the center was signed by the director general of UNESCO and the Iran's minister of energy on March 26th 2005.