Determining the efficiency of Great Karun irrigation and drainage networks using data envelopment analysis method with conservatism control parameters

Different studies show that the performances of many irrigation and drainage networks are less than what expected due to design and implementation defects and lack of proper management. On the other hand, the existence of several effective factors in the performances of these networks has made their evaluation as a complicated issue. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is one of the most effective methods to evaluate efficiency. Of course, the precise and accuracy assumption of the data has restricted the use of this model. Therefore, in this study, Data Envelopment Analysis with conservative control parameters (RDEA) were used to determine the technical, scale, and pure technical efficiency of 4 irrigation and drainage networks of Great Karun with considering the uncertainty problem in the data. The results showed that at the level of 50% probability of deviation, Gotvand and Northwest Ahwaz irrigation and drainage network with the mean score of 1 and 0.52 have the highest and lowest efficiency, respectively. Investigating the causes of inefficiencies in the networks showed that personnel costs and maintenance cost had the highest impact on this way, so that the difference between actual use and the optimal level of these two inputs are 48% and 41% respectively. Finally, to validate decision makers in using the results, validation of the method was performed by Monte Carlo simulation. The results of this simulation indicated the ability of the RDEA model against uncertain data.