Nik Kowsar

Letters to the Editor: California can’t afford to repeat Iran’s water management mistakes 'Unless California treats recharge and sustainable use as urgent priorities, it risks repeating Iran’s mistake — becoming a global warning rather than a model,' writes an L.A. Times reader.

@ianjames.bsky.social’ and Sean Greene’s recent reporting on California’s disappearing groundwater is essential reading.

California is not Iran. It has the advantage of democratic institutions, a free press and civic activism. But ...

www.latimes.com/opinion/lett...

@jayfamiglietti.bsky.social

Iran’s Taps Are Nearly Empty After five straight years of drought, the country is running dry.

While headlines often focus on Iran’s nuclear
ambitions or its proxy wars, the real existential
threat lies beneath the surface—literally. #Aquifers are collapsing.

Even if the Islamic Republic falls, the next
government will inherit a devastated landscape.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/07/i...

Nik Kowsar on X: "Here’s what Peter Gleick said about water, peace, and conflict at the 2023 UN Water Conference. @PacificInstitut @circleofblue https://t.co/c3utHtSQox" / X Here’s what Peter Gleick said about water, peace, and conflict at the 2023 UN Water Conference. @PacificInstitut @circleofblue https://t.co/c3utHtSQox

x.com/nikahang/sta...

I guess it’s better on X

2- Water Conflict Chronology @petergleick.bsky.social

1- @petergleick.bsky.social talks about water, peace, and conflict at the 2023 UN Water Conference.

Iran’s Taps Are Nearly Empty After five straight years of drought, the country is running dry.

After five straight years of drought, the country is running dry. foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/07/i...

Water, Waste, and Willful Ignorance: Iran’s Path to Ecological Collapse It’s painful to witness how far things have deteriorated in Iran. As long as corruption defines the system, hope is a luxury reserved for fools.

Water, Waste, and Willful Ignorance: Iran’s Path to Ecological Collapse
open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

Meeting David Levine: The Master Who Changed My Life Through Art David Levine gave me the courage to become who I am. His work taught me how to stand tall in the face of power—and to aim my pen like a scalpel at the liars, the cowards, and the enemies of truth. For...

Meeting David Levine: The Master Who Changed My Life Through Art
open.substack.com/pub/nkowsar/...

Flash Floods, Dry States, and Willful Amnesia Whenever I hear about lives lost in flash floods—especially in arid states like Texas or New Mexico—I’m pulled back to the places I grew up, where we knew building homes in flood-prone areas was a rec...

Flash Floods, Dry States, and Willful Amnesia
open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

The Water Compact That Failed, And Why Iran Should Pay Attention The relevance of the Colorado Basin to Iran goes far beyond climate similarities — it also lies in parallels of governance.

The Water Compact That Failed, And Why Iran Should Pay Attention
open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

More US scientists must speak out Nature Human Behaviour - The Trump administration has launched an extraordinary and dangerous attack on US science. Climate and water scientist Peter Gleick calls on scientists who are able and...

This is no time for silence.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Next Time, Please Send Smarter Bombs Collateral damage is making more Iranians question not just the regime—but the war itself.

Next Time, Please Send Smarter Bombs
open.substack.com/pub/nkowsar/...

The Hydraulic Mission Impossible! What Happens in Vegas… Ends Up in Your Reservoir—and Drains Your Groundwater Too!

The Hydraulic Mission Impossible!
open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

@mrhode.bsky.social @yasharali.bsky.social @markcarneyforpm.bsky.social @aliehsassi.bsky.social

Never Say Never: When Trump Hit Carney With a Bieber Bomb Who knew that our President was a true Belieber?

Never Say Never: When Trump Hit Carney With a Bieber Bomb
open.substack.com/pub/nkowsar/...

@petergleick.bsky.social @newshaajami.bsky.social @hooriajami.bsky.social

You Can’t Pump Forever From Wells to Warnings: The Cost of Over-pumping in Central Iran and the Central Valley

You Can’t Pump Forever
open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

@petergleick.bsky.social

Iran: Where EIAs Go MIA: But disastrous projects always come back to haunt people—and the environment The future of millions of Iranians is about to be wagered—again—on glittering megaprojects with zero environmental accountability. Whether it’s regime 2.0 courting foreign dealmakers, or diaspora savi...

Iran: Where EIAs Go MIA
open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

@petergleick.bsky.social @nima.bsky.social

You Can’t Enrich Groundwater Why the Collapse Beneath Iran is Bigger Than the Deal Above

You Can’t Enrich Groundwater

Rivers don’t read press releases. Aquifers don’t respond to regime change. And farmers don’t wait for talking points.
Do you want to understand Iran’s future? Don’t watch the centrifuges. Watch the wells.

open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

Are we Dominated or Dumbinated? Are we a smart generation, or just proudly enrolled in the University of Dumb?

Are we a smart generation, or just proudly enrolled in the University of Dumb?

Descartes once said, “I think, therefore I am.” Adorable. If René were on Twitter today…he would have said " “I scroll, therefore I rage-comment.”
open.substack.com/pub/nkowsar/...

The Danger Behind Ignoring Iran’s Water Bankruptcy No nuclear deal will refill a dead river or rehydrate a collapsed aquifer.

The Danger Behind Ignoring Iran’s Water Bankruptcy
open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

Tariff Monday: The Day the Vibes Died and Death Took the Day Off Death was bored.It was Tariff Monday—his least favorite made-up economic holiday, right behind Quantitative Easing Eve and Federal Reserve Cosplay Day. He felt as low as the Dow Jones after a Trump ta...

Tariff Monday: The Day the Vibes Died and Death Took the Day Off
open.substack.com/pub/nkowsar/...

در باره اختلافات میان یزد و اصفهان بر سر آب چه می‌دانیم؟
چرا دولتی که می‌خواهد با سرکوب، آرامش ایجاد کند، سیاست‌های و برنامه‌های آبی‌اش بحران زا است؟

نتایج طرح‌های اجرا شده جمهوری اسلامی بدون انجام “ارزیابی اثرات محیط زیستی” چه بوده؟
انتقال آب از سرشاخه‌های کارون به زاینده‌رود و بعد به یزد چه اثراتی روی سرزمین ما داشته است؟ آیا نفع خانواده خاتمی و دیگر سیاسیون مهم‌تر بود یا محیط زیست و زندگی مردمان سرزمین؟
واقعیت‌ها و ریشه‌های ماجرا چیست؟

From Mulholland to Rafsanjani: The Copy-Paste Catastrophe of Water Mismanagement Ah, the 1990s—a glorious time when Lake Urmia was so full that landowners worried it might swallow their precious properties.

From Mulholland to Rafsanjani: The Copy-Paste Catastrophe of Water Mismanagement
open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

New York, New York The first time I visited New York was Christmas week of 1976.

New York, New York
open.substack.com/pub/nkowsar/...

Enter Sustainable DEVILopment How Did Our Cool, Blue Planet Turn Into a Giant Burning Sauna?

Enter Sustainable DEVILopment
open.substack.com/pub/nikkowsa...

To Deal or Not to Deal—That’s the Question! A Deal with Tehran: Who Wins When Corruption Can Get a Free Pass

To Deal or Not to Deal—That’s the Question!
open.substack.com/pub/nkowsar/...