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The present research deals with increasing agricultural water productivity in Tajen basin of Mazandaran province by using optimal allocation. In the current research, to find the most optimal allocation of water from the available water sources in the study area, the optimization method with genetic algorithm with non-superior ranking was used and SWMM model was used to estimate the runoff resulting from precipitation. Since the model of optimal allocation of water resources is multi-objective and has more than one optimal response, none of which is superior to the other, and the appropriate response is selected based on the management conditions, three responses were selected from the optimal responses in the form of three scenarios to be compared with the current conditions of water allocation. The results showed that the optimization of water allocation caused an increase in agricultural water productivity by 76 percent for citrus fruits, 47 percent for rice, 60 percent for oilseeds, 59 percent for corn, 65percent for wheat, 77 percent for vegetables and 76 percent for cotton for the third scenario. which is a desert scenario. Also, the economic profit has increased by 33 percent on average. According to the results, wheat products, vegetables and oilseeds after rice and citrus have the highest production and yield compared to other products in the study area. The optimal cultivated area for these products is equal to 3200, 2700, 5523 hectares, respectively. By optimizing the allocation of water resources while saving significant water consumption, the production product per water consumption as well as the economic profit can be increased depending on the chosen solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water allocation needs to adhere to the principles of efficiency, equity, and sustainability, but, equity usually is less considered. Foumanat irrigation area with five command areas is one of the three areas of Sefidroud irrigation and drainage network that more than 90% of it is covered by paddy fields. Since water plays a key role in paddy fields, the lack of uniform distribution of water resources throughout the irrigation area during the rice cultivation period causes irrigation water scarcity and severe damage to some irrigation areas. In this study, the equity of groundwater withdrawal and the received surface water from Sefidroud irrigation and drainage canals according to the shared water resources among Foumanat’s command areas were evaluated using the Gini coefficient. Therefore, a water allocation optimization model was developed to maximize the equity in the allocation of groundwater and surface water of canals according to the minimum current economic benefit in the command areas. The results showed that in optimum conditions, the equity of groundwater and surface water resources allocation was increased by 46.3% and 43.7%, respectively. The evaluation of the optimal allocation of available water resources also showed that the amounts of groundwater withdrawal and the received surface water from canals are distributed equally among command areas.

Water allocation needs to adhere to the principles of efficiency, equity, and sustainability, but, equity usually is less considered. Foumanat irrigation area with five command areas is one of the three areas of Sefidroud irrigation and drainage network that more than 90% of it is covered by paddy fields. Since water plays a key role in paddy fields, the lack of uniform distribution of water resources throughout the irrigation area during the rice cultivation period causes irrigation water scarcity and severe damage to some irrigation areas. In this study, the equity of groundwater withdrawal and the received surface water from Sefidroud irrigation and drainage canals according to the shared water resources among Foumanat’s command areas were evaluated using the Gini coefficient. Therefore, a water allocation optimization model was developed to maximize the equity in the allocation of groundwater and surface water of canals according to the minimum current economic benefit in the command areas. The results showed that in optimum conditions, the equity of groundwater and surface water resources allocation was increased by 46.3% and 43.7%, respectively. The evaluation of the optimal allocation of available water resources also showed that the amounts of groundwater withdrawal and the received surface water from canals are distributed equally among command areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]