Determination of the Most Appropriate Management Strategy in Balancinge the Aquifer of the Abarkuh Plain Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Groundwater resources have shrunk noticeably in arid and semi-arid areas in recent decades. Therefore, determination of the most important problems of the aquifers and the best management strategies is important. The purpose of this study is to identify in the causes of the imbalance of groundwater in the Abarkuh Plain aquifer, in the Yazd Province. To attain this, the criteria and sub-criteria of groundwater problems were determined using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method in the Expert Choice software. Then, aquifer management strategies were designed using the same process (AHP method). The results indicated that agriculture, with a relative weight of 76.00% compared to industry and domestic water is the most effective consuming sectors in creating the aquifer imbalance. The most important agents in this sector were over-exploitation of the aquifer (22.50%), competition in agricultural water utilization (20.10%), irrigation systems (14.50%), cultivation patterns (12.50%), cultivated land area (8.20%), illegal irrigation wells (6.00%), and the development of high water demand industries (4.50%). Furthermore, the most important solutions for crisis management were irrigation system reform and cultivation pattern correction. To acheive these solutions, management strategies including equipping the wells with the volumetric counters, prevention of illegal pumping, separation of drinking from sanitation water, and development of the low water-consuming industries are suggested.