Agricultural Water Governance and Policy-Making Model: An Approach Towards Sustainable Development

Sustainable water resource management aims to optimize water use and achieve food security. In this study, a conceptual model for managing water supply and demand was developed by analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of agricultural water resource management within the study area. The spatial analysis of internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) related to agricultural water management was considered. Agricultural water management strategies were prioritized using a multi-criteria decision-making approach that integrates the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and TOPSIS within a fuzzy decision-making environment. In this study, data were collected through the distribution of 30 questionnaires among selected managers, experts, and stakeholders using purposive sampling, and analyzed using the analytic hierarchy process and SWOT models. The results of the SWOT analytical model indicated that the final scores for internal and external factors were 2.9 and 2.73, respectively. Accordingly, the aggressive strategy (SO strategy) and a combination of structural and non-structural strategies (SO, ST, and WO strategies) were ranked as the highest priorities. The proposed strategies for managing water supply and demand to enhance water productivity include the development and improvement of the physical structure of the studied water resource system, management of operation and maintenance, environmental management, and the utilization of internal water resources within the studied water system. The findings revealed that within the study area, the total annual water consumption of irrigated lands is estimated at approximately 1.8 billion cubic meters, with about 1,707 million cubic meters (95%) sourced from surface water and 90 million cubic meters (5%) from groundwater. The proposed model and presented results provide effective solutions for implementing sustainable management of water resources and consumption in large-scale water resource systems.