Feasibility of Implementing Water Cooperatives in Drought-Prone Conditions with an Entrepreneurial Approach in Sistan Region, Iran

In the last two decades, Sistan region has been suffering from drought conditions. The fluctuation of the Hirmand River and the incorrect management of water resources in this region have caused the water crisis to intensify. In this situation, one of the solutions that can help to get out of the critical water situation is cooperative irrigation. Therefore, in this research, the feasibility of establishing water harvesting cooperatives in drought conditions in Sistan region with an entrepreneurial approach is considered. To achieve the mentioned goal, the model of similarity to the ideal option of the fuzzy logic bed has been used. To collect the necessary information, experts, experts and farmers were used through interviews and questionnaires. MCDMSolver 2018 software was used for modeling and solving the model. In this research, based on three economic, social, and attitudinal indicators, the sub-indices were divided into 12 items, and finally, the three options examined, the traditional system, the production cooperative system, and the rural cooperative system were prioritized and ranked. The results of the research showed that the production cooperative system with a weight of 0.56 was placed in the rejection rank. In the second place is the rural cooperative system with a weight of 0.40 and the traditional system with a weight of 0.29 is in the last place. According to the obtained results, water cooperative system should be given special attention in the form of production and rural systems.