Agent-Based Simulation of Participatory Management of Groundwater Resources: A Case Study of Villagers of Isfahan Province, Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Economics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

Groundwater is a natural common-pool resource that has long been a victim of tragedy of the commons due to selfish withdrawal of farmers During recent years. One solution to coping with this problem is to replace flood irrigation with large-scale irrigation system (LIS) within the framework of participatory conservation projects. As these projects are costly, they require financial support by the government and cooperation among farmers. In this study, given the unstable raining conditions and drying out of Zayanderud, an agent-based model (ABM) on participatory management of groundwater resources is proposed for 223 villages in Isfahan Province in the form of participatory conservative projects. The results of this study indicate sensitivity of model’s simulation and high sensitivity of villagers to the government’s financial supports. This model predicts when the government pays 85% of the costs for changing the irrigation system, the participation will rise to two-thirds. Further, the results of simulation suggest that with increasing the number of farmers, the rate of participation will significantly drop. Finally, according to different scenarios in this study, it is suggested that the government begins its financial support from the small villages with the pioneer group (near the pumping water) and scale-free social network.

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History

  • Receive Date: 28 July 2022
  • Revise Date: 09 April 2024
  • Accept Date: 15 May 2024

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