Water Allocation Using WEAP and Vensim Softwares (Case study: Nazloo-chai basin)

Nowadays, due to increased water consumption and demands, optimum water allocation should be taken as a serious need. In this research, WEAP and Vensim softwares are used to plan and manage the water resources and demands in Nazloo River basin, located in West-Azarbaijan province. By use of these softwares, two models were prepared: One for supplying water demands of the region using river flows (without Nazloo dam) and the other one with the same condition but by considering the Nazloo dam operation effect. Water demands of the region were assessed up to 2016, river flow of the past 40 years was analyzed, and river discharge of 2013-2016 was estimated by ARIMA method. Results showed that average differences between the results of WEAP and Vensim softwares were 3.74% and 8.91% for the with-dam and no-dam options, respectively. The highest water deficiency was in water supply to agricultural demand in September, which with construction of the dam, the average supply in this month increases from 15.8% to 94% of the demand amount. To verify the obtained results of the unmet water demand in various years, the SPI index was used, which in 72.5% of the cases it was consistent with the results of the softwares. In general, without constructing the dam, water needs of industry and environment will be mainly supplied, but there would be some deficiencies in water supply for agriculture. For water supply, instead of constructing a dam with a storage capacity of 154 MCM, a dam with a capacity of 100 MCM will be enough.