An optimal management approach for agricultural water supply in accordance with sustainable development criteria using MCDM (TOPSIS) (Case study of Poldasht catchment in West Azerbaijan Province-Iran)
Mahshid Ebad Ardestani, Ebrahim Sharifi Teshnizi, Parham Babakhani, Masoud Mahdad, Mohsen Golian
Abstract
Management and planning of water resources in drainage basins have always been among the most challenging issues in water industry in Iran. Shortage in water resources, increasing agricultural productions and providing nutrition health are the concerns of the governments in guaranteeing sustainable development. This study introduces a framework for evaluating agricultural water supply systems in which its most distinguished characteristic is providing a field for cooperation of all beneficiaries in the system. This is a case study of the framework for evaluation and ranking of different alternatives of supplying agricultural water demand systems in accordance with sustainable development criteria in Poldasht basin located in West Azerbaijan Province with 5 dams. The comparison was made based on four set of criteria including social, economic, bioenvironmental and technical definitions. Results well demonstrate the efficiency of multi-criteria decision-making techniques in evaluating projects based on sustainable development criteria.