A new framework of a multi-criteria decision making for agriculture water distribution system

Abstract

This study aims to determine the effectiveness and rank the scenarios for the modernization of surface water distribution system in reducing water withdrawal from the aquifers, including the replacement of catchment structures (structural method), improving traditional water distribution methods (non-structural method), and automation of surface water distribution system (combined method). The surface water distribution system of the Nekouabad area located in the central plateau of Iran was selected as the study area. A set of technical (increasing groundwater level), social (water distribution equity), economic (implementation cost), and environmental (integrated groundwater footprint) criteria were selected to study the balancing scenarios for sustainable groundwater management comprehensively. The performance of surface water distribution was simulated in MATLAB software, and its effect on the aquifer was studied using the MODFLOW code. The criteria were weighted by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, and the balancing scenarios were prioritized using two multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, i.e., AHP and COPRAS. The scenario ranking results using the two MCDM methods indicated that the combined method, two improvement scenarios of the non-structural method, and the structural method had the highest to lowest priorities. The results showed that the option of automation of surface water distribution systems could be introduced as a practical and effective solution in balancing aquifers where agricultural water management is based on a combination of surface and groundwater resources.