Evaluating Factors Affecting the Satisfaction of Installing Smart Flowmeters on Groundwater Wells in Urmia Lake Basin

One of the most important strategies for restoration of Urmia Lake is to manage agricultural water resources, and in this regard, installing smart flowmeters on groundwater wells can help reducing water consumption in this sector. The aim of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction of installing smart flowmeters and the factors affecting it. To achieve this goal, a generalized ordered logit model was used, which required data collected using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews from 250 farmers by cluster sampling method in 2019. The results showed that 38.8% of respondents had less than moderate satisfaction, 25.2% had moderate satisfaction and 36% were more satisfied than the average level of installing smart flowmeters. Factors affecting satisfaction are income from non-agricultural activities, increase in the value of agricultural land after flowmeter installation, proximity to the main source of irrigation, government support in flowmeter installation and time passed from flowmeter installation. Estimating the marginal effect of these variables shows that by increasing the amount of these variables, the probability of being in the group with high level of satisfaction increases. Adopting appropriate policies to increase the revenue agricultural products and financial and advisory support of the government in installing smart flowmeters can help reduce water consumption in agriculture and increase the likelihood of satisfaction with the installation of smart flowmeters