The Impact of the 46,000-Hectare Sistan Plain Irrigation Project on the Social Sustainability of Villages (Case Study: Rural Areas of Hamoon City)

Given the water inflows to Sistan in Afghanistan, water scarcity is one of the main factors limiting the development of agricultural activities in the region. Recent droughts have led to the drying up of lifelines, destruction of production bases, and increased migration to other parts of Iran. In this regard, the irrigation project of 46,000 hectares of agricultural land in Sistan has been approved and implemented to channel the current floods from Afghanistan into natural pits known as wells and reservoirs, and to provide the possibility of appropriate use of these floods for agricultural development and regional sustainability. Therefore, this study attempted to examine the impact of the 46,000 hectare irrigation project in the Sistan Plains on the social sustainability of the villages. The statistical population of the study was the inhabitants of 40 villages of Hamoon city. Using the Cochran formula, 346 respondents were interviewed out of 19,133 households. Swara, Mabak, GIS and Wilcoxon tests in SPSS statistical analysis software were used to analyze the data. According to the Wilcoxon test, the social sustainability of the studied villages has increased with the implementation of the water transfer plan on farmers' land compared to before the implementation of the plan. The greatest impact of the implementation of the 46,000 hectare irrigation project on the social sustainability of the villages is related to the components that increase the villagers' tendency to stay in the region and optimistic expectations for the future of Sistan.