Prioritizing Agricultural Water Allocation under Drought and Water Scarcity Conditions; A Case Study of Zanjan Province

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AERI); Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO); Karaj, Iran

2 Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AERI); Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO); Karaj

3 Zanjan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Zanjan, Iran.

4 Regional Water Company of Zanjan, Iran.

10.22034/nawee.2026.563434.1181
Abstract
Population growth and droughts have led to water scarcity in arid and semi-arid regions. Optimal allocation of water resources is a key strategy for prioritizing water use across sectors. The aim of this study is to prioritize the allocation of agricultural water among sub-sectors in Zanjan Province. To this end, the main and sub-criteria, as well as options, were determined based on expert opinions, and the options were prioritized using the AHP. The five main criteria included food security, economic potential, technical and operational feasibility, resource and environmental sustainability, and governance and comparative advantage. The options consisted of crop farming, horticulture, livestock production, poultry farming, aquaculture, and greenhouse cultivation. The results showed that food security (weight=0.40), was the most important criterion, highlighting the need to focus on food-basket products. Economic potential (weight=0.08) ranked lowest in priority. Equitable access to food and drought resilience had the highest importance (each with a weight of 0.40), while the self-sufficiency ratio had the lowest importance (weight=0.20). Irrigated crop farming (weight=0.25) with the highest priority, plays a crucial role in ensuring food security and supporting employment. Sensitivity analysis showed that irrigated crop farming and poultry farming ranked highest, and only under extreme weighting of technical or economic criteria could greenhouse cultivation or poultry farming replace crop farming. The findings indicate that agricultural water allocation in Zanjan Province requires a comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach in which achieving sustainable food security is prioritized.

Keywords


Akbari, Y., Shamsi, Z., Khani Temeliyeh, Z., Mirabbasi Najafabadi, R., 2023. Evaluating the operation of dams under different management programs using the WEAP model (case study: Kardeh Dam of Mashhad). Journal of New Approaches in Water Engineering and Environment, 2 (1), 145-160. https://doi.org/10.22034/nawee.2023.409943.1049 (In Persian)
Alaee, Y., shamsi, Z., Khani Temeliyeh, Z., Miraasi R., 2024. Investigating different scenarios of Jiroft dam water resources allocation using WEAP model. Journal of New Approaches in Water Engineering and Environment, 3 (1), 13-33. https://doi.org/10.22034/nawee.2024.446877.1067 (In Persian)
Angood, C., 2004. Contribution of irrigation to sustaining rural livelihoods: Bangladesh case study (Report OD/TN 114). HR Wallingford Ltd.
Asgari, S., Shanahsazadeh, A., Safari, B., 2024. Reforming the water allocation pattern to increase water productivity in the agricultural sector of the Zayandeh-Roud Basin. Agricultural Water Research, 38 (4), 357-374. https://doi.org/10.22092/jwra.2025.365867.1043 (In Persian)
Baby, S., 2013. AHP Modeling for Multicriteria Decision-Making and to Optimise Strategies for Protecting Coastal Landscape Resources. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology (IJIMT), 4 (2), 218-223.
Boelee, E., Coates, D., Khaka, E., Pert, P.L., Thiombiano, L., Scherr, S.J., Cook, S., Sanford, L., 2013. Managing Water and Agroecosystems for Food Security. Wallingford, UK: CABI.
Darko, R.O., Yuan, S., Hong, L., Liu, J., Yan, H., 2016. Irrigation, a productive tool for food security- a review. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B-Soil and Plant Science, 66 (3), 191-206. https://doi.org/10.1080/09064710.2015.1093654
Dutta, D., 2007. Climate perturbation and coastal zone systems in Asia Pacific region: Holistic approaches and tools for vulnerability assessment and sustainable management strategy. Final Report submitted to Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, 52, 2007.
El‐Shahed, M.F., 2022. An analytical economic study for the optimal use of irrigation water in Egyptian agriculture. Aquatic Science and Fish Resources, 3 (0), 34-57. https://doi.org/10.21608/asfr.2022.162071.1025
Forbidden Plains of the Country., 2019. Office of Water Resources Protection and Utilization and Customer Affairs, Water Resources Management Company, Ministry of Energy. (In Persian)
Fragoso, R., Bushenkov, V.A., Marques, C., 2010. Multi-objective Water allocation in the Alqueva Region. New Medit, 9 (3), 28-36.
Global Risks., 2015. World Economic Forum. 10th Edition, Geneva.
Hutagalung, C.M., Yuda, A.D.A., Ghadati, A.S., Suryandika, F., 2025. A holistic approach to sustainable agriculture: synergistic effects of food security, environmental sustainability, and economic balance. 5th International Conference on Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (ICAES) 2024. Nusantara Science and Technology Proceedings. 26-34. https://doi.org/10.11594/nstp.2025.4904
Jahangiri, A., 2025. Evaluation and selection of modern methods for removing persistent environmental pollutants in water resources using the analytic hierarchy process. Journal of New Approaches in Water Engineering and Environment, 4 (1), 178-189. https://doi.org/10.22034/nawee.2025.499431.1131 (In Persian)
Javaherian, Z., Vahdati, S.A.F., Rahmati, A., Zamani, L., 2016. Sustainable Development Goals. Department of Environment, Tehran. (In Persian)
Knieper, C., Pahl-Wostl, C., 2016. A comparative analysis of water governance, water management, and environmental performance in river basins. Water Resources Management, 30 (7), 2161-2177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1276-z
Knox, J., 2024. Reconciling water needs for food, the environment, energy and society – a quadrilemma facing the future of global irrigated agriculture (pp. 3-28). Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.19103/as.2023.0123.01
Luo, B., Zhang, F., Liu, X., Pan, Q. and Guo, P., 2021. Managing agricultural water considering water allocation priority based on remote sensing data. Remote Sensing, 13 (8), 1536. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13081536
Malghan, D., 2010. On the relationship between scale, allocation, and distribution. Ecological Economics, 69 (11), 2261-2270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.06.015
Melillo, P., Pecchia, L., 2016. What is the appropriate sample size to run analytic hierarchy process in survey-based research? In Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (pp. 4-8). ISAHP. https://doi.org/10.13033/isahp.y2016.130
Molden, D., Rijsberman, F., Matsuno, Y., Amarasinghe, U., 2002. Increasing productivity of water: A requirement for food and environmental security. 7th Edition. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
Mollaei, H., Ardestani, M., Nabi-Bidhendi, G., 2025. Elaboration of the optimal allocation model of underground water resources using social participation Water users (Case study of Hormozgan Kahoristan Plain). Water and Irrigation Management, 14 (4), 789-809. https://doi.org/10.22059/jwim.2024.371132.1137 (In Persian)
Nhundu, K., Mushunje, A., 2012. Irrigation Development: A Food Security and Household Income Perspective. InTech. https://doi.org/10.5772/30865
Pandya, A.B., 2023. Towards sustainable agricultural water management. Irrigation and Drainage, 72 (4), 1188-1191. https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.2893
Rees, P.L.S., 2018. Advancing agricultural water security and resilience under non-stationarity and uncertainty: evolving roles of blue, green, and grey water. Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education, 165 (1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1936-704X.2018.03288.X
Rezaee, A., Bozorg-Haddad, O., Chu, X., 2021. Reallocation of water resources according to social, economic, and environmental parameters. Scientific Reports, 11 (1), 17514. https://doi.org/10.1038/S41598-021-96680-2
Sahabifard, F.Z., Shahnazari, A., Sadeghi, S., 2024. Increasing the productivity of agricultural water under the optimization scenario of water resource allocation using the algorithm (NSGA-II). Water and Irrigation Management, 14 (2), 405-419. https://doi.org/10.22059/jwim.2024.369097.1122 (In Persian)
Shafiei, M., 2011. Outlook on Biological and Water Resources in Iran with a View to Global Conditions and Current Challenges. Report No. 135, Expediency Discernment Council. (In Persian)
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division., 2017. World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. New York: United Nations. Accessed at https://population.un.org/wpp/
Sabater, S., Barquin, J., Blasco, J., Elosegi, A., Garcia, C., Ginebreda, A., Gomez, C.M., Munoz, I., Rico, A., Rovira, J., Batalla, R.J., 2025. Water scarcity challenges water security: A case for Spain’s freshwater ecosystems. Environmental Research Letters, 20 (9), 091008. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ADFBFC
Zardari, N.H., Yusop, Z., Shirazi, S.M., Roslan, N.A.B., 2015. Prioritization of farmlands in a multicriteria irrigation water allocation: PROMETHEE and GAIA applications. Transactions of the ASABE, 58 (1), 73-82. https://doi.org/10.13031/TRANS.58.10682
Zhang, Y.F., Li, Y.P., Sun, J., Huang, G.H., 2020. Optimizing water resources allocation and soil salinity control for supporting agricultural and environmental sustainable development in Central Asia. Science of the Total Environment, 704, 135281.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135281.
Zhao, J., Li, M., Guo, P., Zhang, C., Tan, Q., 2017. Agricultural water productivity oriented water resources allocation based on the coordination of multiple factors. Water, 9 (7), 490. https://doi.org/10.3390/w9070490