Decision Model Based on Sustainability Indicators for Groundwater Resources Management (Application to the Case Study of Namdan Plain Located in Fars Province)

Human is under threat due to the shortage of fresh water, its deteriorating quality, and rising water stress around the world. Proper management of water resources is very important to ensure the sustainable social and economic development in any country in the world. In order to sustain freshwater resources, they must be used efficiently without compromising the needs of future generations. The present study was conducted to ensure the sustainable management of groundwater resources. For this purpose, four indicators of vulnerability, resilience, reliability, and combined stability, each of which includes aspects of sustainability, were used as the objective function of management issues. Using the combined simulation-optimization model of Namdan plain aquifer and the ant colony optimization algorithm, a decision model was created. The results indicate the effectiveness of four indicators of vulnerability, resilience, reliability and combined stability to increase groundwater level and positive changes of water storage. So that the aquifer storage change under each scenario was 11.7, 13, 12.3 and 12.4 million cubic meters, respectively. According to the results obtained from four management issues, analyzed in this study, the most important effect in improving the aquifer with a significant reduction in pumping from well while the such reduction should be measured at the aquifer level.