The Assessment and Analysis of the Hydromorphological Condition of Haji- Arab River, Bouein Zahra County

Rivers have a lot of complexity and diversity in different environmental conditions, and various natural and human factors affect rivers and change their hydromorphological conditions. In fact, hydromorphological degradation is one of the most important types and causes of river changes which happens due to human interventions and consequently the adjustment of the river channel. Several methods have been developed to study the hydrogeomorphology of rivers. One of these methods is the morphological quality index, which has been proposed as a new protocol to assess the morphological quality of river flow. The present study aims to classify hydromorphological quality of the Haji-Arab River (which is located in the west of Bouin-Zahra city) by Morphological Quality Index (MQI). In this study, two main phases and three sub-phases are used for each phase and applied to eight spans. Various indicators such as: functionality index, artificiality index and adjustment index have been applied on this river. The results show that the amount of MQI in the studied intervals was between 0.82 to 0.74%. Among these, the maximum value was in the spans of 1,2,3,6 with a score of 0.82, while the minimum value was in the span of 8 with a score of 0.74.  In terms of quality, Haji-Arab River is on a good class and has good conditions. The functionality index in this river was zero, which was the result of non-intervention of human in the river. Therefore, it is suggested to protect Haji-Arab River appropriately by proper management.