Study of Mechanisms for Development and Strengthening of Water User Cooperatives (Case Study of Aras River Basin): Application of AHP Method

Water user cooperatives were formed due to consideration to people''s empowerment and participation in water investment and management. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanisms of development and strengthening of water user cooperatives in the Aras River Basin. The study population consisted of the management board members of the water user cooperatives in the Aras Basin in the year 2012. Respondents were selected by purposeful stratified sampling method. Having the data collected by interviews and questionnaires، the Analytic Hierarchy Process (through the software Expert Choice 11) was used to prioritize mechanisms for the development and strengthening of water user cooperatives. Based on the final weights، criterias including supportive strategies، education - extension، policy، communications and legal mechanisms، were prioritized، respectively. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that sub-criterias including reallocation of credit to change the traditional irrigation to drip and sprinkler irrigation، holding extension and educational courses purposed at promoting farmers’knowledge about their responsibilities for the formation and management of water user cooperatives collaborated with the department of Jihad Agricultural Organization (JKO)، the department of Cooperatives and Regional Water Organization; credit and investment provision to improve the processing and package industries، modeling appropriate cropping systems based on the area capacity were the most influential sub-criterias in developing and strengthening water user cooperatives.