The Role of Water Resources Management in the Sustainable Livelihood of Rural Households(Case Study: Northern and Southern Mazraeh of Aq Qala Township)

One of the biggest challenges of the present century is water shortage. Due to the increasing population growth, the consumption and demand for water have always been increasing, especially for rural people because most of them are farmers. This situation has become a big concern for them as well as authorities. Therefore, appropriate policies and plans have been raised for the management of water supply and demand known as the integrated management of water resources.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of water resources management in sustainable livelihoods of rural households due to the consecutive droughts in Aq Qala Township.

This research had an applied purpose and a descriptive-analytical method. Accordingly, multiple questions were set in the form of a questionnaire. Rural households in two Voshmgir rural areas constituted the statistical population. The statistical sample consisted of 363 farmers in northern and southern Mazraeh rural districts who were selected by the simple random sampling method. Data were analyzed by statistical tests such as Mac McNemar, Friedman, Independent Samples T-Test, and Chi-square.

Using Friedman and Chi-square tests, the results showed a significant relationship (95%) between water resources management and increasing productivity in the sustainable livelihoods of rural households leading to population retention in rural areas. Accordingly, the government’s support of the planting of products with fewer water requirements, promoting greenhouse and hydroponic planting, training of farmers with water use reduction and new irrigation methods, and assigning long-term credits by the government can be appropriate solutions to increase productivity in the realization of water resources management.

This study was performed for the first time in a rural flooded zone in Aq Qala Township in order to improve the sustainable livelihoods of rural households.