JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

Water allocation needs to adhere to the principles of efficiency, equity, and sustainability, but, equity usually is less considered. Foumanat irrigation area with five command areas is one of the three areas of Sefidroud irrigation and drainage network that more than 90% of it is covered by paddy fields. Since water plays a key role in paddy fields, the lack of uniform distribution of water resources throughout the irrigation area during the rice cultivation period causes irrigation water scarcity and severe damage to some irrigation areas. In this study, the equity of groundwater withdrawal and the received surface water from Sefidroud irrigation and drainage canals according to the shared water resources among Foumanat’s command areas were evaluated using the Gini coefficient. Therefore, a water allocation optimization model was developed to maximize the equity in the allocation of groundwater and surface water of canals according to the minimum current economic benefit in the command areas. The results showed that in optimum conditions, the equity of groundwater and surface water resources allocation was increased by 46.3% and 43.7%, respectively. The evaluation of the optimal allocation of available water resources also showed that the amounts of groundwater withdrawal and the received surface water from canals are distributed equally among command areas.

In the present paper, crop pattern criteria have been evaluated relying on sustainable development to increase agricultural water productivity. Seven criteria were selected as the main environmental and economic criteria and were prioritized and reviewed for important and strategic products in the Tajan catchment of Mazandaran province. Criteria prioritization was done using optimization through a genetic algorithm with an objective function based on sustainable development. Then, physical and economic productivity indices were calculated to determine the productivity value. Based on the results, in the selection of the crop pattern, firstly, the category of economic criteria and finally the category of environmental criteria have been given attention to the farmers in the current situation. But in the genetic optimization algorithm, all priorities have a similar order from the environmental point of view and then from the economic point of view although each product has its order of criteria. By this prioritization, the parameters of the cultivated area, the volume of water consumed, and the amount of chemical fertilizers have decreased on average by 26%, 34%, and 21%, respectively, and the parameters of product performance and profitability have increased by 43% and 61%, respectively. In addition to providing environmental standards and increasing sustainable development, this prioritization causes an average increase in physical productivity by 84% and an increase in economic productivity by 72%.