Evaluation of watershed management projects implemented in terms of improving the spirit of public participation in Rimeleh Watershed, Lorestan Province

Evaluating the implemented watershed projects and providing a perspective of their performance results provide managers and decision-makers with appropriate information for long-term planning. Therefore, by evaluating the performance of watershed projects from the perspective of experts, while determining the effects of the project and the factors affecting, the necessary guidelines for the optimal implementation of these projects in the future can be provided to officials and planners. In this research, in order to evaluate the implemented watershed management projects in terms of improving the spirit of public participation in the Rimeleh Watershed, the point of view of experts and users was used.

Rimleh Watershed is one of the sub-basins of Kashkan River. For this purpose, after preparing the initial list of indicators, using the Delphi method and polling experts, the final list of indicators effective in improving the spirit of public participation was determined. 39 indicators were selected and classified into 6 categories. Finally, in order to prioritize the indicators, multi-indicator decision-making methods were used. All heads of rural households in this watershed were selected as the statistical population. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires were tested. According to Cochran's relationship and proportional assignment sampling method, 135 watershed dwellers were referred from the watershed dweller community. Face-to-face interviews and questionnaires were used to collect users' opinions. Friedman's test was used to rank the factors affecting people's participation from the point of view of beneficiaries. In order to evaluate from the point of view of experts, a pairwise comparison questionnaire was designed and distributed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method.

Cronbach's alpha was calculated equal to 0.827 and showed the reliability of the questionnaires in the research. The compatibility rate in hierarchical analysis is less than 0.01, so the compatibility of the comparisons can be accepted. The results show that the activities of cooperative actions such as gardening, terracing, construction of concrete streams, construction of swimming pools and dredging of fountains took the most human and financial participation (about 76%). Examining indicators of participation of watershed residents in future projects showed that "increasing the level of income due to the implementation of the project in the region" (ranked 19.5) was chosen as the best indicator from the users' point of view. According to experts, the index "participation rate of watershed residents in decision-making" (with a weighted average of 0.252) was selected as the best index. The indicators of "increasing the participation of watershed residents in decision-making" and "using the capacity of other institutions in the implementation of conservation projects and attracting their participation" received the most weight, and the indicator "strengthening the participation of organizations such as cooperatives at the village level" received the least weight.

The results of this research show that the beneficiaries of Rimeleh Watershed have a high capacity to accept and participate in watershed management projects. It is suggested that the participation of stakeholders in future decisions and the use of participatory measures in this watershed and other watersheds are of importance. Therefore, the approach used in this research can be used as an effective method to help better understand the watershed system and also facilitate the decision-making process by watershed planners and managers and watershed stockholders. In order to evaluate the implementation of watershed projects on improving the spirit of public participation, it seems necessary to pay attention to the mentioned priorities and it is suggested to be placed on the agenda of managers and planners.