Investigating the Role of Knowledge of Local Communities in The Attitudes and Behaviors of Cooperative Use of Water Resources

In the present age, the issues and challenges of water crisis are at the center of attention of human life. To solve these crises, recent environmental policies have focused on encouraging pro-environmental behaviors and the determining factors of this behavior. Considering that one of the reasons for this crisis is the lack of human knowledge in the sustainable management of resources, therefore, the present research aims to contribute in the explanation and prediction of cooperative use behavior of water resources by Investigating the rich experiences of a successful case study in the field of water consumption local management by focusing on the knowledge component.

The theoretical framework of the research is the modify theory of planned behavior (MTPB) with an emphasis on the local knowledge component. This descriptive research was conducted using a survey method and a questionnaire among two groups of drinking and agricultural users in Toshan and Galand villages in Golestan province. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires have been confirmed using the Content Validity Ratio and Cronbach's alpha test. According to the research objectives, SPSS software was used for the statistical analysis of the questionnaires. In the following, structural equation modeling using Smart PLS software has been used for the simultaneous analysis of causal relationships between variables and the degree of conformity of the conceptual model with experimental observations.

The results of the statistical analysis show that the environmental knowledge of the users about water issues in the region is higher than the expected average, and this means that the level of cooperative behavior in the study area is high. Also, according to the Stone-Geisser scale, the structural model has a good structural quality in all cases. Investigating the structural part of the model by Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and Composite Reliability (CR) shows the appropriate reliability and convergent validity of the MTPB model. Also, the value of the R2 coefficient shows that in total, the variables of the modify model explain 92, 93, 74 and 79% of the behavior of the users of Toshan drinking, Galand drinking, Toshan agriculture and Galand agriculture, respectively, in relation to local participation in the use of water resources. Regarding the structural paths of the model, the results indicate that all components have a positive and significant effect on the variable of behavioral intention. Also, according to the obtained path coefficients, a positive and significant relationship has been observed between knowledge and attitude with the behavior of cooperative use of water resources, which confirms the hypothesis of the research and shows that the users have a positive attitude towards the cooperative behavior of water conservation in all cases.

According to the field experiences in the study area, the participation of stakeholders in the use of water resources facilitates the work by sharing environmental knowledge in cases where there are conflicts regarding the use of water. Adding the knowledge component, has not shown significant differences in improving behavior prediction between different cases of consumption. Of course, the results show that knowledge can be effective as a prerequisite for engaging in cooperative behavior. It should be noted that the results show that drinking water users, with a slight difference compared to agricultural users, have a greater behavioral intention to accept cooperative management of water resources.