Spatial water management under alternative institutional arrangements (A case study of coastal lands of Yengejeh Dam)

Currently, water demand management and optimal operation of its resources is one of the most important issues in environmental economics and management. Water demand management has been a concern of economic planners as a new approach in environmental economics. This study aims to investigate water demand management in different product markets in downstream of Yengejeh Dam in Neyshabur. This is an exploratory study in nature which was conducted through a questionnaire survey in 2015-2016. The population of this research is composed of all farmers who use water from Yengejeh Dam to irrigate their lands. Using Cochran formula at the level of 6% error, 139 farmers were selected as the sample of this research randomly. A scenario of increasing the elasticity of product demand in resource allocation in the competitive and monopolar water market was developed by assimilation algorithm in the studied region. According to the market situation of water in the region which is almost similar to monopolar water market, the results suggest that if barley farmers replace cultivation of this crop and orient towards exported products instead, the amount of product is reduced and farmers increase their yield per hectare of land while using more water supply and more area under cultivation.