Management Responses for Chehel-Chay Watershed Health Improvement Using the DPSIR Framework

Awareness of watershed problems and their consequences based on causal models is a fundamental step in the implementation of integrated watershed management plans and achieving watershed health. In this study, the DPSIR framework was used to analyze watershed health and cause-effect relations among its components, as well as structuring information in the Chehel-Chay Watershed, Golestan Province, Iran. For this purpose, first, items of each component were identified by library studies and literature reviews, and also discussion with NGOs and members of the village council. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed by, respectively, a group of experts and Cronbachchr('39')s alpha method. The sample size of the watershed residents was calculated by Cochranchr('39')s formula. Then, the items were prioritized using the Friedman test based on the Likert scale, from the viewpoints of 28 experts and 94 residents. The matrix of relations between the items of the main components and their prioritization was determined according to the perspective of both groups. The results showed that the compliance rate of common priorities among 40% of the top priorities was 73% for the component of Pressure, 60% for the components of State and Impact, and 58% for the component of Response. Also, the most important managerial responses were identified and prioritized. Due to the presence of various stakeholders, applying these responses in the framework of integrated watershed management is crucial to improve watershed health.