Sustainable Management of Groundwater Resources Using Multi-Criteria Programming (A Case Study of Kashmar Plain)

Subject Areas : Decision-making

سمیه شیرزادی لسکوکلایه ¹ , رضا اسفنجاری کناری ²

1 - استادیار گروه اقتصاد کشاورزی دانشگاه علوم کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی ساری
2 - استادیار اقتصاد کشاورزی، دانشکده کشاورزی‬، دانشگاه گیلان

Received: 2017-05-25 Accepted : 2018-09-05 Published : 2018-11-01

Keywords: Vikor method, Sustainable Management, Water Pollution, Kashmar Plain,

Abstract :

Frequent droughts and their consequences result in the loss of groundwater, the deficiency of nutrients, the drying of surface water resources, and substantially more exploitation of the groundwater resources, which, altogether, cause the mobilization of saline waters to groundwater tables. This will impair the capacity of the aquifers and the quality of the water. The VIKOR method was applied to determine the best feasible solution according to the selected criteria including the local rainfall status in different years, soil permeability, land slope, and water quality indicators, including SAR, RSC, salinity for determination of groundwater resources quality and land-use restrictions in the Kashmar Plain in the northeast of Iran. The results of sampling performed on the Kashmar Plain showed that water quality was lost as one moved from the northern groundwater tables to the southern ones. The excessive use of groundwater resources, the downfall of the groundwater level, and subsequently, the increased salinity account for the loss of the agricultural water quality and the land-use restrictions. Furthermore, the results of the model within years 2010 and 2014 showed that if the current form of indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater resources is kept, it will lead to the mobilization of the salinity to the lowly-saline upstream regions. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on sustainable management of groundwater resources, control their indiscriminate exploitation, and minimize the damage to the groundwater tables in the study site. In addition, agronomists should work on limiting the use of agricultural land by modifying the cropping pattern and on using deficit-irrigation methods.

References:

Agricultural Jihad Office of Khorasan Razavi (2013). Statistical Yearbook  (report No. 2012, |Kashmar). Retrieved from Website:http://koaj.ir/modules/showframework.

Alizadeh, A. (2000). Relationship of water, soil, and plant. Mashhad: Emam Reza University (Iran), Pp.35-50.

Bryan, B.A., & Crossman, N.D. (2008). Systematic regional planning for multiple objective natural resource management. Journal of Environmental Management, 88, 175-189.

Buyukozkan, G., & Karabulut, Y. (2017). Energy project performance evaluation with sustainability perspective. Energy, 119, 549–560.

Canto-Perello, J., Martinez-Leon, J., Curiel-Esparza, J., & Martin-Utrillas, M. (2017). Consensus in prioritizing river rehabilitation projects through the integration of social, economic and landscape indicators. Ecological Indicators Journal, 72, 659–666.

Chang, C.L., & Chung, H. (2009). Multi-criteria analysis via the VIKOR method for prioritizing land-use restraint strategies in the Tseng-Wen reservoir watershed. Journal of Environmental Management, 90, 3226-3230.

Chung, E. S., & Lee, K. S. (2009). Prioritization of water management for sustainability using hydrologic simulation model and multi-criteria decision-making techniques. Journal of Environmental Management, 90, 1502-1511.

Ghorabaee, M. K., Amiri, M., Sadaghiani, J. S., & Zavadskas, E.K. (2017). Multi-criteria project selection using an extended VIKOR method with interval type-2 fuzzy sets. International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making, 14, 993–1016.

Hafezalkotob, A., & Hafezalkotob, A. (2017). Interval target-based VIKOR method supported on interval distance and preference degree for machine selection. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence Journal, 57, 184–196.

Kaya, T., & Kahraman, C. (2010). Multi-criteria renewable energy planning using an integrated fuzzy VIKOR & AHP methodology: The case of Istanbul. Energy, 35, 2517-2527.

Kuo, M. S., & Liang, G. S. (2011). Combining VIKOR with GRA techniques to evaluate service quality of airports under fuzzy environment. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(3), 1304-1312.

Liou, J. H., Tsai, C., Lin, R., & Tzeng, G. (2010). A modified VIKOR multiple- criteria decision method for improving domestic airlines service quality. Journal of Air Transport Management, 17, 57–61.

Opricivic. S., & Tzeng, G.H. (2004). Compromise solution by MCDM methods: a comparative analysis of VIKOR and TOPSIS. European Journal of Operational Research, 156, 445-455.

Opricovic, S., (1998). Multi-criteria optimization of civil engineering systems. PhD Thesis, Faculty of civil engineering, Belgrade, 302 p.

Opricovic, S., & Tzeng, G.H., (2003). Fuzzy multi-criteria model for post-earthquake land-use planning. Natural Hazards Review, 4 (2), 59-64.

Rahaman, M. M., Varis, O., & Khajader, T. (2004). EU water framework directive vs. integrated water resources management: The Seven Mismatches. Water Resources Development, 20(4), 565-575.

Regional Water Company of Khorasan Razavi (2014). The reports of groundwater of Kashmar,(report No. 2012). Retrieved from Website:http://wrs.wrm.ir/amar/login.asp.

San Cristóbal, J. R. (2011). Multi-criteria decision-making in the selection of a renewable energy project in Spain: The Vikor method. Renewable Energy, 36, 498-502.

Sanayei, A., Mousavi, S., & Yazdankhah, A. (2010). Group decision making the process for supplier selection with VIKOR under fuzzy environment. Expert Systems with Applications, 37, 24-30.

Sharma, A., Chauhan, R., Singh, T., Kumar, A., Kumar, R., Kumar, A., & Sethi, M. (2017).  Optimizing discrete v obstacle parameters using a novel entropy-VIKOR approach in a solar air flow channel. Renew Energy, 106, 310–320.

Soner, O., Celik, E., & Akyuz, E. (2017). Application of AHP and VIKOR methods under interval type 2 fuzzy environment in maritime transportation. Ocean Engineering, 129, 107–116.

Tong, L. I., Chen, C. C., & Wang, .C. H. (2007). Optimization of multi-response processes using the VIKOR method. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 31, 1049-1057.

Tzeng, G.H., Lin, C.W., & Opricovic, S. (2005). Multi-Criteria analysis of alternative-fuel buses for public transportation. Energy Policy, 33, 1373-1383.

Xu, F., Liu, J., Lin, S., & Yuan, J. (2017).  A VIKOR-based approach for assessing the service performance of electric vehicle sharing programs: A case study in Beijing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 148, 254–267.