Factors Affecting Agricultural Water Security in Ramjerd District

Water security is defined as the physical and economic access of rural households to sufficient and reliable amounts of water to meet their agricultural needs, as well as their ability to defend their rights before the relevant authorities. Due to the changing pattern of rainfall and irregular rainfall and recent droughts in the country, better management of water resources and recognition of components and relationships between them is of great importance. In this study, to measure and determine the effective factors of water security, cross-sectional data related to 180 farmers in Ramjard region were collected by random sampling method through a questionnaire. The water security index was defined as the mixture of water availability, water assurance, water adequacy, ability to pay, willingness to pay, and legal issues (water conflict and problem solving procedure) and was measured using the Principal Components Analysis (PCA). The results showed farms that use integrated water resources have higher water security. The results of estimation of ordinary least squares method also showed that the variables of distance from the dam, the position of the land and the downfall well have negative effects and the type of channel, literacy level and training classes have positive effects on water security. It is expected that training farmers to repair and maintain irrigation systems, saving water and use of modern irrigation technology accompanying with further attention of the local authorities to address water supply problems and to inspect distribution and transmission of water may achieve the objective of water security.