Economic Prioritization of Watershed Management Projects Based on the Impact on Water, Soil and Plant Resources

In natural resources, economic evaluation is poor in terms of study due to the uncertainty of non-consuming value of resources. In the present study, the evaluation of water, soil and plant resources in watershed management projects and expert questioning was done to enable the projects to be evaluated and prioritized economically. Three sub-watersheds were selected from the Parcel A watershed of Gheshlagh Dam basin in Sanandaj, that the mechanical, biological and biomechanical operations in each of them was executed. The amount of water, soil and plant resources of each project according to the guidelines of Forests, Rangeland and Watershed Management Organization was estimated. The ratio of income to cost and the cost of each unit of resources were obtained by calculating the value of each unit of resources and calculating revenues and costs in each project. Then, water, soil and plant economics as criteria and watershed projects as sub criteria were determined with paired comparison matrix questionnaires. A project has priority that protects more resources at a lower cost than another. Questionnaires were distributed among experts and data were analyzed by Analytical Hierarchy Process. The results of the expert questionnaire and the valuation of the sources were compared. The results showed that, the cost per cubic meter of water in the mechanical project is higher than biological projects, although experts prioritize mechanical methods economically but biological with an income-to-cost ratio of 2.2 is the top priority .The cost of water in the mechanical, biological projects was respectively 1.4, 1.2 times the price per cubic meter of water in the area. Soil and plant prices were also calculated and the biological project became the top economic priority. Therefore, priority should be given to biological projects that have less cost and more impact on resources, contrary to watershed experts and detailed-executive studies. As well as the mechanical projects should be limited to areas in critical flood situations, provided that operate biological projects in upstream.