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Index-based Groundwater Sustainability Assessment in the Socio-Economic Context: a Case Study in the Western Iran

Environmental Management volume 67, pages 648–666 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The groundwater sustainability of an alluvial aquifer in the western Iran was examined by using eight different social, economic, and environmental indicators. Differing types of indicators were used including groundwater extraction, groundwater quality, and groundwater vulnerability from the environmental indicators proposed by UNESCO 2007 and the legal framework, institutional capacity, public participation, knowledge generation, and promotion and water productivity from five researcher-developed indicators. A questionnaire and an AHP analysis were used to assess groundwater sustainability in the Mahidasht aquifer. Using AHP method, the indicators were formulated as spatial thematic maps resulting in calculation of the groundwater sustainability index (GSI). Then, the final GSI was divided into four categories, including sustainable, near sustainable, unsustainable, and highly or critically unsustainable. The AHP results showed that most parts of the study area are contained within the unsustainable category. The questionnaire method also showed that the study area with the score of 1.47 belongs within the unsustainable category. The validation of AHP results indicated 97% of the area had more than 1-m of drawdown in the groundwater level and 62% of it had more than 10-m of decline in the water level. The results showed that different socio-economic and environmental indicators can provide a helpful overview of groundwater sustainability conditions for future planning and decision-making in water management. Few studies of water management using socio-economic indicators have been conducted in Iran, Therefore this study provides a novel method of groundwater sustainability assessment by using the concepts of sustainable development, and integrated spatial indicators.

Highlights

  • Assess groundwater sustainability by use of reliable indicators to help water managers make better decisions.

  • Use of three indicators from UNESCO and five researcher-developed indicators.

  • Use of a proposed index-based approach in the socio-economic conditions.

  • Obtain more realistic results from groundwater sustainability assessment by using questionnaires and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methods.

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Acknowledgements

The researchers would like to thank the great help of Regional Water Company of Kermanshah and Agriculture Jihad Organization of Kermanshah in provision of the required data and the completion of the questionnaires. We are grateful to the staff and faculty members of Razi University for their widespread supports for conducting field operations. The present study is extracted from FM’s MA thesis in economics who is grateful to the economics department of Razi University for approving her proposal. Last but not least, it should be mentioned that no ancillary fund or credit has been received from any organization or center.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

    Fatemeh Majidipour, Seyyed Mohammad Bagher Najafi & Jamal Fathollahi

  2. Kermanshah Regional Water Authority, Kermanshah, Iran

    Kamal Taheri

  3. U. A. Whitaker College of Engineering, Emergent Technologies Institute, Florida Gulf Coast University, 16301 Innovation Lane, Fort Myers, FL, 33913, USA

    Thomas M. Missimer

Authors
  1. Fatemeh Majidipour
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  2. Seyyed Mohammad Bagher Najafi
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  3. Kamal Taheri
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  4. Jamal Fathollahi
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  5. Thomas M. Missimer
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Correspondence to Seyyed Mohammad Bagher Najafi.

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Majidipour, F., Najafi, S.M.B., Taheri, K. et al. Index-based Groundwater Sustainability Assessment in the Socio-Economic Context: a Case Study in the Western Iran. Environmental Management 67, 648–666 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01424-7

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Keywords

  • Groundwater Resources Management
  • Analytic Hierarchy Process
  • Sustainability
  • Geographic Information System (GIS)
  • Mahidasht
  • Iran