نشریه آب و توسعه پایدار
سال نهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 25، پاییز 1401)

Editorial:The effectiveness of the groundwater restoration and balancing planHamidreza Naseri/ member of the editorial boardShort note:Effective implementation of the restoration and balancing plan of the country's underground water resourcesJavad Meybodi/former director general of the water exploitation and protection systems office of the Ministry of EnergyShort note:Santa Clara groundwater balancing; "Achieving groundwater balancing is not an event; Rather, it is a completely complex evolutionary process.Hossein Ashketorab/ Director of Santa Clara Water Department (California)

Groundwater monitoring networks provide important data which are necessary to understand the dynamics of hydrogeological systems. Since the cost of the installation and maintenance of groundwater monitoring networks is extremely high, optimal design and the assessment of the effectiveness of the monitoring networks is necessary. This paper presents the application of a newly developed geostatistical method based on the acceptance probability concept, to optimize the existing network of observation wells in the Shirvan alluvial aquifer, located in North Khorasan province. To this aim, by choosing a suitable semi-variogram and using ordinary kriging, the acceptance probability in the aquifer was calculated. Then, based on the spatial pattern of groundwater level, the acceptance probability was calculated for various parts of the aquifer and the acceptance accuracy values were analyzed at different levels of probability. The results showed that based on the existing observation wells network, 19.2% of the aquifer area has a very high acceptance accuracy. On the other hand, by modifying the network of existing observation wells and adding suggested points, 46.7% of the aquifer area will have a very high acceptance accuracy. Therefore, the installation of new observation wells in the proper locations will increase the accuracy acceptance and improve the efficiency of the observation well network.

In arid and semi-arid regions, a major share of rainfall never reaches streams or groundwater. This part which is known as rainfall loss can play a decisive role in river flow or groundwater recharge. Rainfall losses are used in many hydrological models as one of the basic forecasting components. In this study, the components of the hydrological losses including interception, evapotranspiration, infiltration, and soil moisture have been reviewed, as well as the characteristics of the mentioned components, general concepts, conducted studies, and also the comparison of the useful calculation methods of these components of hydrological losses was reviewed.  The review of the studies shows that due to the complex and stochastic nature of the rainfall process and the many factors affecting it, rainfall losses have not yet been comprehensively understood and in many simulations, it is enough to simplify the systems by considering infiltration as a loss function.  As a result, in practical applications, fixed values for losses are often used and this simplification leads to a sort of inaccurate runoff simulation. Therefore, firstly, it is recommended to pay attention to the time and place format in the existing rainfall loss models and even their concepts and secondly, more consideration should be paid to the interrelationships among components,  because, for example, in the daily time scale, a component such as transpiration may become less important than in long-term time periods, or in an urban watershed due to human manipulation, the loss processes may not be similar to natural watersheds.

The aquifer reclamation project has been developed and implemented by the Ministry of Energy with the aim of stopping the overdraft of groundwater resources. It is not possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of this project in many Iranian aquifers due to the lack of complete implementation of the project or the lack of sufficient information. The study area of the Ardestan is one of the pilot plains for the implementation of the aquifer reclamation in Isfahan province, in which, according to the available data, it is possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of this project. For this purpose, the quantitative data of the Ardestan aquifer between 2001 and 2021 were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the reclamation project. The results show that the slope of the water table curve has improved relatively in the years after reclamation, and natural factors have had the greatest impact on this improvement. In other words, the amount of groundwater saved due to reclamation shows a negligible effect on the quantity of groundwater in terms of quantity, time, and place. The review of the implementation of the reclamation projects in the Ardestan shows that the performance in some projects was zero and in other cases, the projects were implemented incompletely. Finally, the implementation of each of the projects has been analyzed based on the available data, and the reasons for the failure of the rehabilitation and balancing plan's effectiveness have been investigated.

The restoration and resilience project with the aim of compensating for the reservoir deficit and preventing the decline of the aquifers is being developed by the Ministry of Energy with various projects and is being implemented throughout Iran. The implementation of restoration and resilience projects in the forbidden plain of Qaleh Tol, northeast of Khuzestan, has started since 2017. The evaluation of the implemented plans, saving 1.7 million cubic meters per year (about 14% reduction in the exploitation of groundwater) has been done by comparing the fluctuations of the groundwater level of the plain before and after the implementation of the plan. The results showed that the amount of changes in the reservoir level and the volume of Qaleh Tol aquifer in the water year 2021-2022, which is in the dry period along with the implementation of restoration and balancing projects in the region, is positive and equal to 0.41 meters and 1.8 million cubic meters, respectively. Based on this, while during the drought period of 2021-2022, most of the plains of Khuzestan province have faced a drop in the reservoir level and reservoir deficit, however, the groundwater level has risen in Qaleh Tol plain, which can be due to the positive effects of the implementation of the projects. Due to the intermittent years with more rainfall than normal and drought, it is not possible to comment with certainty regarding the effects of project implementation on the aquifer balance, and the clear role of the effect on the representative hydrograph is not certain due to the short-term fluctuations of water level changes.

Increasing exploitation of groundwater has caused problems such as water table drops and declining in the country's aquifer storage volume.  The multiplicity of these problems has led to various programs for rehabilitating and balancing of groundwater resources. One of these strategies is to install a smart meter on the exploitation wells. Shahriar plain aquifer is one of the aquifers in Iran which has caused numerous problems in this aquifer. In this study, after examining the characteristics of the Shahriar plain aquifer and monthly changes in groundwater level in the statistical course from 2011 to 2019, the effect of installing a smart meter on groundwater level fluctuations was analyzed. The study area was divided into three sections with a high number, medium, and low smart meter installations. A separate representative hydrograph was prepared for each section. The results of the analysis of maps and hydrographs indicated that in the period after installing the smart meter, the slope of groundwater level fluctuations in the area with a high number of smart meters is similar to the slope and the trend of groundwater level fluctuations in the area with a low number of smart meters; Therefore, installing smart meters on exploitation wells, through current methods and policies, cannot be a suitable approach for sustainable management of groundwater resources; Because installing smart meter without limiting the amount of overdraft does not have a positive effect on aquifer regeneration and balancing. In this research, other balancing measures performed in the study area were reviewed.

Water governance is a decision-making process in a set of political, economic, social, and executive systems in order to plan, develop water resources management and provide water services in different parts of society. Yazd province is one of the driest provinces in the country due to being located on the central plateau. Therefore, it seems that water governance is necessary in such a way that in different sectors of agriculture, drinking water hygiene, and industry, the main goal project is, to have optimal consumption, and water resources are not destroyed. The approach of the present research is qualitative; The foundation's data method and data collection technique were semi-structured in-depth interviews with three groups of managers and administrative experts, independent experts and experts in the water field, and employers in the industry and agriculture sectors. which were selected by purposeful sampling until reaching theoretical saturation. The data analysis technique was also open, central, and selective coding. The findings of the research showed that the water governance model is based on self-interested governance. This type of governance means paying attention to immediate and present interests and not paying attention to the state of water resources for the future, which has characteristics such as orders from the top to bottom, show, temporary, without paying attention to environmental issues and sustainable development. There has been a lack of interaction between the people and the officials and the defective participation of the stakeholders.

Efficient water technologies as a non-economic tool in protecting water resources have always been of interest to environmental economists. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the willingness of households in Tehran to adopt efficient water technologies to protect water resources in 2020. For this purpose, using the survey method in the form of interviews and completing a questionnaire, the factors affecting the acceptance of the use of efficient water technologies were determined using the logit model. The results showed that 57% of the sample is willing to accept efficient water equipment. The results also indicate that the attitude towards water protection with a tensile strength of 13.1 is one of the most critical components affecting the acceptance of these technologies. Education level and household size are the second and third most important factors affecting the adoption of efficient water technology. With a one percent increase in each of them, respectively, 3.2 and 2.29 percent will tend to accept the use of these technologies. In this regard, providing facilities to households to provide tools to reduce water consumption, implement incentive schemes, mandatory separation of household meters and eliminate water costs from charging, effective public media advertising (radio, television, etc), and cyberspace play an effective role Encourage households to use efficient water technologies.

The main objective of this study was to perform a survey method to assess the implications of implementing pressured irrigation projects in Qazvin province, as well as their effect on satisfaction and continuing use. The main data collection tool was a questionnaire, data collection method, documentary study, and interview, and the study population of this study included all farmers who installed a pressurized irrigation system in their fields between 2015 and the end of 2018 (N=477), which was determined based on Krejcie and Morgan sampling table with a sample size of 214 people. In addition to dispersion and centrality statistics, coefficient of variation and confirmatory factor analysis were utilized to assess and explain the data. Farmers' opinions of the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the implementation of a pressurized irrigation system were investigated in this study. The findings revealed that farmers' average perceptions in these three aspects were higher than normal (The average of each dimension is higher than 3). The most important social consequences of adopting pressured irrigation systems, according to the respondents, are "reducing rural migration", "creating a sense of constructive competition among farmers to use these systems", and "sustainability and continuity of agricultural jobs in the region, as well as hope for the future of agriculture". "Optimal water usage management", "quantitative enhancement of agricultural productivity", and "enhanced farm investment" are among the most important economic consequences. "The prospect of uniform distribution of production inputs through reservoirs" was one of the most significant environmental impacts.

Urban Water Distribution Networks are the most important and costly network in each city. The Major part of the urban water distribution network costs is related to the executive progress and purchase of water distribution network accessories. Therefore, the cost of the water distribution network can be reduced by reducing and optimizing this part. For this purpose, the problem of water distribution network design should be defined as an optimization model and solved it using an efficient method. Nowadays, Meta-heuristics algorithms are the most efficient methods for solving optimization models. In this research, two sample problems mean Schaake and Lai (1969) water distribution network and NEWYORK city are modeled in the EPANET software and solved using an improved version of the artificial bee colony algorithm that is called MATLAB software. To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, the results are presented and compared with the basic and standard version of the artificial bee colony algorithm and other results. Using an improved artificial bee colony algorithm for the two-loop network (NEWYORK), the objective function value and computational cost are 419000 $ (38.13 M$) and 2800 (3800), respectively. A comparison of the results shows that the construction and computed costs are reduced compared with the result of the standard version. Therefore, this algorithm is an efficient algorithm for solving optimization problems such as the design of a water distribution network.

The salinity of irrigation water resources combined with improper irrigation and drainage management is considered one of the most important threats to the sustainability of the agricultural sector in irrigated lands of the country. According to an overall estimate, about half of the country's irrigated farms have salinity problems at different levels. Given that no up-to-date and accurate report on the salinity status of agricultural water resources of Iran has been prepared so far, this paper decided to do this with the help of the latest statistics and information available at a national scale. For this purpose, the quality (salinity) data of agricultural water resources related to Iran Water Resources Management Company and also the results of previous studies on the quality of surface and underground water resources were used. The results of data analysis, which was conducted on 44.5 billion cubic meters of groundwater used in the agricultural sector, show that the average electrical conductivity of these resources is around 2.0 dS.meter-1. of which, about 31% (equivalent to 13.8 bcm), as well as about 20% of the surface agricultural water resources (equivalent to around 3.6 to 4.4 bcm) have salinities higher than the average. Concludingly, the possible effects of salinity on crop yield have also been provided, as well as proper solutions to overcome the salinity problems of irrigated agriculture.

In recent decades, the management and treatment of sewage and sludge dewatering process have become crucial due to their high nutrient content. However, choosing the right technology in this area is a big challenge due to the complexities and the existence of many uncertainties. In this article, an analytical hierarchy process is used as a decision-making tool to choose the appropriate dewatering method in the southern Tehran treatment plant, in which the criteria structure and the evaluation process are defined by describing several possible options for sludge dewatering to be compared and weighted. The results were analyzed and evaluated using Expert choice software. According to the results, the belt filter press is the best and most appropriate technology for sewage sludge dewatering among pressure and belt filter press, lagoon, centrifuge, and sludge drying beds. Finally, validation had been done based on the sensitivity analysis method, which shows the effect of changes in input parameters on the results and was carried out for technical, economic, environmental, and management criteria, and the sensitivity of the options to the change in the weight of the main criteria was determined and the results showed that the most sensitivity in the economic criteria refers to the lagoon process, in the technical criteria refers to the centrifuge process, in the environmental criteria refer to the centrifuge process, and in the management criteria refers to the belt filter press process. The results show that this method, due to its simplicity and adaptability to different situations and regions, can be considered at the national level for different decision-makers in the field of selecting processes in water and wastewater treatment.

One of the main limitations in the development of the aquaculture industry in Iran is access to fresh water with good quality. This requires the development of sustainable technologies for aquaculture wastewater treatment. The present study investigates breeding technologies in order to save water consumption in Iran's aquaculture systems, relying on the model of sustainable development. In this research, the innovations created in aquaculture wastewater treatment in recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs), aquaponics and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) systems have been discussed. A recirculating aquaculture system, which treats wastewater by removing toxic pollutants and recycling water, requires only 10% of the total volume of fresh water to produce of fish. Therefore, this system helps to save water. However, it has limitations, the most important of which is the accumulation of nitrates in the system, high economic cost, and difficult management, which is achieved by converting nutrients from aquaculture effluents into algal biomass. In addition to RASs, aquaponics is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture methods and RASs. This method includes aquaculture and plant cultivation, which shows the integration of aquaculture-agriculture activities. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) includes the use of symbiotic organisms in breeding systems that optimizes the balance of nutrients and purifies the wastewater resulting from aquaculture activities. This method shows the combination of different nutritional levels that organic and inorganic effluents are used by different organisms.

During the last decade, the occurrence of continuous droughts, unbalanced exploitation of the water resources in Iran, decrease in the flow of rivers and discharge of springs, and the over drop in the groundwater level have caused social problems in different regions of the country. Based on this, the project of exploration and exploitation of Iran's deep groundwater resources was defined and welcomed by the officials. By allocating funds and providing credit, this project started in the middle of the 2010s and so far, several deep water wells have been drilled in Sistan and Baluchistan province. However, the overall quantitative and qualitative results published from the drilling of the mentioned wells have not been so promising. So that the existence of deep groundwater in the southeast and even other regions of Iran is doubtful. The purpose of this article is to examine the method adopted for deep groundwater exploration in Iran, considering the possibilities and limitations, and propose a new strategy to change the process of the project.

Controlling the continuous drop of the underground water level, which is usually referred to as the balancing of the underground water; It is not a new issue and many measures such as the ban on declaring plains, the plan for balancing the underground water, the plan for adapting to water scarcity, etc. have been formulated and announced in line with it.

Despite the valuable features of the restoration and balancing plan of the country's underground water resources, the lack of attention to the following points in developing the framework of the plan can be considered as one of its weaknesses:- Historical experiences in the field of underground water resource management.- Reduction of government tenure and statism.- Non-agricultural factors affecting the balance of underground water resources.It seems that if the organizational and expert power and the budget spent for this project were spent only in the field of creating, institutionalizing and establishing user organizations and implementing cooperative management of underground water resources, and by learning from historical experiences and in order to reduce governmentality, Some of the tasks of underground water management, including the process of issuing and renewing permits and implementing the first seven projects, were assigned to these organizations, and better results were achieved.