Assessing the vulnerability of villages against the water shortage crisis (case study: Qorveh and Dehgolan counties)

Drought affects a wide range of climates and ecosystems. Meanwhile, the effect radius of the drought phenomenon is more in rural areas than other areas, because rural economy and life rely relatively heavily on natural resources and agricultural activities. The present study was carried out with the aim of grouping and prioritizing the villages of Qorveh and Dehgolan counties in order to show the difference in the severity of drought and the degree of vulnerability caused by it. The data obtained from calculating the severity of drought showed that the counties of Qorveh and Dehgolan had a mild drought during the studied years. Also, in the discussion of drought vulnerability in the studied settlements, 13 villages were selected as samples and their vulnerability was measured using certain variables. 100% of the surveyed villages in Qorveh and Dehgolan counties have drought experience. The results of Tuki's grouping show that the sample villages are different in terms of vulnerability in the level of indicators of income from the main and secondary livelihoods of the household, exploitation of agricultural water, diversity of household livelihoods and reduction of the area under water cultivation. The biggest difference between villages is the level of access to agricultural water sources. Finally, using the spline interpolation method in the GIS system, the studied villages were zoned in terms of drought severity and degree of vulnerability.Key words: vulnerability of villages, water shortage crisis, zoning, drought