Site selection and prioritization of the areas appropriatie for floodwater spreading using GIS and AHP (Case study: Gorganrud river basin, Golestan)

Subject Areas : environmental management

Mojgansadat Azimi ¹ ( Assistant Professor, Department of Rangeland Management, Faculty of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran. * (Corresponding Author) )
Gholamreza Rahbar ² ( Faculty member of Golestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Gorgan, Iran. )
Shahrouz Mansouri ³ ( MSc Graduate, Faculty of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran. )

Received: 2016-01-10 Accepted : 2016-11-21 Published : 2018-12-22

Keywords: Rangeland mangement, floodwater spreading, AHP, BOOLEAN,

Abstract :

Abstract Background and Objective: Rangelands are very important in country economy in terms of grazing livestock, soil and water conservation and other services to the community. Therefore, systematical and careful management of these lands is necessary. Rangelands of Golestan province were one of the best rangelands of Iran in the past. However, high rate of population growth and sever dependence of the population to natural resources and rangelands caused plant coverage degradation. Floodwater spreading is one of the corrective practices that can be performed with certain goal in the rangelands. Site selection and prioritization of the areas suitable for floodwater spreading and infiltration of flood into the groundwater table are among the most important stages of these projects. Method: GIS and AHP model have been introduced as a suitable method for site selection of the areas appropriate for floodwater spreading system in the Gorgan Rud watershed. In this the Boolean scouring method with two values was used and compared with AHP method. Findings: Initially, the unsuitable areas were determined by AHP method. Then the remaining options derived from model results based on the comments. By site selection, the suitable areas were identified and the obtained inconsistency factor (0.08) proved that criteria weighing for locating the suitable areas for floodwater spreading is correct. Discussion and Conclusion: The results of this study also showed that the areas suggested for floodwater spreading are near the wells and springs, especially in the north and north-west of the watershed. Results showed that investigation of natural factors and constraints based on the Boolean method was not suitable for locating the appropriate areas for floodwater spreading in Gorganrud watershed.

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