Farmers' Attitude towards Effectiveness of the Water Users’ Cooperative in Sustainable Management of Water Resources (The Case of Gahwareh District, Dalahu Township- Kermanshah Province)

The present study was conducted in 2018 to understand farmers’ attitude towards the effectiveness of water supply cooperative in sustainable water resources management in Dalahu County. The statistical population of the study was all farmers of six villages in the Zemakan dam basin in Gahwareh as a district of Dalahu County in Kermanshah province. Based on Krejcie and Morgan's table and using a systematic random sampling, 213 farmers were selected for the study. The results of the study indicated that there are significant correlations between age, education level, agricultural experience, land size, number of land parcels, attitude towards sustainable water management, knowledge about different aspects of water supply cooperatives, social norm, social cohesion and water conflict with farmers' attitude toward the effectiveness of water supply cooperatives in sustainable management of water resources. Also, the results of regression indicated that three variables of attitude towards sustainable management of water resources, social norms and knowledge about various aspects of water supply cooperatives have influence on the farmers' attitude toward the effectiveness of water supply cooperatives in sustainable water management and explain a part of variance of this variable. Based on the findings of the study, suggestions for planning and policy development to improve farmers' attitudes towards the aquarium cooperatives, such as the use of various informational tools to inform farmers about the need for sustainable water resources management and providing a framework for increasing their participation in decision making, were presented.