نشریه آب و توسعه پایدار
سال دهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 30، زمستان 1402)

Optimizing water consumption requires four approaches: modifying laws and regulations, modifying facilities and equipment, promoting the use of consumption-reducing equipment, public education, and cultural measures, which are mainly behavioral reforms and instrumental reforms. In this research, implementation solutions and economic analysis of reducing water consumption in different parts of a building were evaluated. For the economic analysis of the amount of water consumption in buildings, first, a series of influential parameters and indicators were taken into account, and then based on that, relationships were extracted and the amount of water saving in different sectors and factors was determined based on the strategies to reduce water consumption in residential buildings. The savings of the proposed solutions to reduce water consumption in different parts of the building were evaluated based on the three prices of mineral water, export water, and government water. In this research, the investment return period based on the price of mineral water after 2.2 years, exported water after 2.7 years, and government water after 3.9 years is possible by applying the suggested solutions such as the use of modern faucets by the European EPA Association, the standards of minimum suitable dimensions in different parts of a building according to the fourth topic of the national building regulations and the elimination of old systems and the use of modern systems in the building. In this research, the solutions proposed in the sanitary and other sectors (including septic tanks, and toilets) have the greatest impact in reducing water consumption in the construction division with 62 and 16 percent, respectively, and as a result, higher savings.

In strategic planning, it is necessary to take steps with a strategic approach. One of the important steps in using water resource strategies is compiling them. There are different models for this purpose. The purpose of the current research is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the Regional Water Company of North Khorasan and to provide comprehensive management strategies for water resources with a sustainable development approach. By studying the internal and external environment, the most important strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were identified. Then, by SWOT analysis, IFE and EFE matrices were formulated. The findings showed that there are a total of 16 strengths and opportunities as advantages and 20 weaknesses and threats as limitations. After determining the final coefficient of the factors in the matrices, the WT strategy (defensive strategy) was determined as a reactive solution, and by using the QSPM method, the following strategies were implemented: implementation of drought adaptation programs with an emphasis on the Establishing a cooperative management model and water user association and increasing water productivity, providing new water resources by establishing water diplomacy for the maximum use of water resources shared with the country of Turkmenistan and other waters (formation waters, salt water, etc.), establishing an integrated and mechanized water resources management system in the province, implementing passive defense and crisis management strategies, preparing an action plan to deal with critical situations and cyber threats and unforeseen events, empowering human capital and defining sustainable financial and income resources were ranked.

Inefficient irrigation and drainage networks lead to an increase in the gap between water supply and demand, especially under water scarcity conditions. Proper operation of irrigation networks plays an important role in ensuring water supply and demand management. This requires the implementation of a comprehensive approach to making the right decisions at the time of operation. The design of this approach is complex due to the existence of conflicts of interest, uncertainty, and the intrinsic complexity of irrigation network operation topics. In Iran, current practices in irrigation network operations rely on personal experiences and lack comprehensive decision-making tools. This study proposes a fuzzy decision support system to address this challenge. The fuzzy decision support system leverages a fuzzy conceptual model to capture the inherent complexity and uncertainty of irrigation networks. It utilizes a systems approach to identify problems, propose key decision options, and evaluate various solutions. The study emphasizes the effectiveness of multi-criteria decision-making methods for handling complex irrigation network issues. An example of the results of structuring the decision-making process, along with the development of a hierarchical analysis method that is combined with fuzzy set theory (FAHP), is presented in this paper. This shows how the fuzzy decision support system structure can be applied in a real-world irrigation network. Implementing such a system in irrigation management companies is expected to improve water distribution indicators by enabling data-driven, informed decision-making.

This study was conducted to evaluate the real cropping pattern of Khuzestan province in a normal water year (2018-2019) in terms of water withdrawal management from surface resources. For this purpose, the actual evapotranspiration of the products was calculated from the ratio of the available yield of different products (according to the agricultural statistics of 2018-2019) to the potential yield (the highest yield according to the agricultural statistics) by applying the country's water demand line system based on 10-year meteorological data. The results showed that the total water withdrawal from surface resources for the cultivated area of the crop year 2018-2019 (except greenhouses, livestock, poultry, and some products with a small area) was 18856 MCM, so the actual consumption (net irrigation requirement) was estimated 4310 MCM. Considering the Khuzestan Water Scarcity Adaptation Program, the total demand for agriculture and the environment with a confidence level of 80% in the Karun and Karkheh basins was 36 and 23.8% lower than the river flow, respectively, while it decreased to -72% in the Jarrahi basin, which indicated the failure to achieve the minimum environmental requirement. Since the Karkheh River flow has a more severe fluctuating behavior than that of Karun, this behavior cannot be predicted in the linear analysis of average values, and in droughts, it is less than the mentioned number. Therefore, dynamic planning in the field of cropping pattern change, providing various types of drought insurance, implementing infrastructure for the temporary purchase of water rights by the government, and other support policies are suggested in basins such as Karkheh, which has a highly fluctuating behavior in water supply.

Due to the limited quality of water resources and considering that the majority of the country is arid and semi-arid, it is important to cultivate plants with a high tolerance to drought and salinity. This research was conducted to determine the effect of different moisture levels on yield and yield components of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) under lysimetric conditions in the spring and autumn cropping seasons. Treatments included irrigation after draining 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 of the total available water (TAW). Irrigation was done based on the soil moisture depletion and the leaching requirement of about 20%. At the end, dry biomass, seed yield, and yield components were measured. The results showed that with an increase in the moisture depletion from 0.6 to 0.8 TAW, the biomass and seed yield had a significant decrease of 24 and 37% in the spring and 34 and 47% in the autumn cropping season, respectively. But the increase in moisture depletion from 0.2 to 0.4 and 0.4 to 0.6 did not cause a significant decrease in these traits. The results indicated that changes in moisture depletion levels caused significant differences in plant height (P<0.01), stem diameter, and 1000-seed weight (P<0.05) in spring cropping, but their effect on panicle length and width and the number of secondary stems was not significant. In the autumn cropping season, the results showed that changes in moisture levels caused significant differences in plant height and the 1000-seed weight (P<0.01), but the effect on other yield components was not significant.

The supply and distribution of sustainable drinking water is one of the most basic responsibilities of governments, and the protection and maintenance of water supply and distribution infrastructure is of particular importance. Currently, with the occurrence of natural threats such as drought and climate change in the country, the enemy can abuse these threats and carry out hostile actions such as creating disruptions or interrupting the provision of services as well as psychological operations to incite people against the government and sovereignty. Therefore, paying attention to drinking water infrastructure, industry, and agriculture is considered necessary and inevitable to increase resilience, continue essential activities, and facilitate crisis management. Our research method is practical and developmental in terms of purpose. The research approach is descriptive and analytical. The aim of this research is to provide an efficient model that helps identify the base threats and vulnerable points of the infrastructure of the border regions. In this article, in the form of a case study using the method of identifying and assessing the potential of natural and human hazards in a region (FEMA), firstly, the assets of the water and sewerage area of Marzi province have been identified and screened. Vulnerabilities are identified and assessed, and the risk of each asset is calculated. At the end, solutions are presented to reduce the risk to the water and sewage infrastructure of the border province.

The aim of this study is to estimate and analyze the spatiotemporal changes in the baseflow of 266 rivers across Iran in a 30-year period (1987-2017) in order to determine the degree of influence of groundwater sources and snowmelt in the studied rivers. The daily baseflows were separated from the streamflows recorded at the hydrometric stations using the Chapman-Maxwell digital filter method. A non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was used to analyze the baseflow time trend, and Moran's I spatial autocorrelation index was used to analyze the spatial autocorrelation of baseflow and baseflow index (baseflow ratio to streamflow). The monthly analysis of baseflow showed a regular seasonal pattern with the highest and lowest values of 9.08 and 1.95 million cubic meters per month, corresponding to the months of April and September, respectively. The results of the baseflow index showed that the share of baseflow in the surface water supply of the studied rivers is between 0.15% and 0.99% (72% on average). The results of the long-term trend of the baseflow indicated that 83.08% of the rivers experienced a significant downward trend (at a level of 0.95) in the studied period. The findings of the spatial autocorrelation test confirmed that there are several clusters with high baseflow and baseflow indexes in the Zagros and Alborz mountain ranges. The results of this research can provide a general picture of the temporal and spatial changes in the baseflow of rivers at the scale of the country and provide outstanding help to decision-makers in order to achieve integrated management of surface water resources.

Assessing the quality of water resources and having accurate information about their quantity and quality is a prerequisite for water resources management. Considering the importance of the Chahnimeh reservoirs of the main source of drinking and agricultural water supply in Sistan, it seems necessary to evaluate the water quality of the No.1 Chahnimeh, which is the most important and the largest lake among the triple Chahnimeh reservoirs. Today, one of the most important methods to determine the quality of water in simple terms is the use of water quality indicators. This research was conducted during one year based on seasonal sampling from September 2020 to September 2021. The factors of nitrate, nitrite, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, hardness, and pH were measured in eight sampling stations and the WQI index was calculated using them. In general, according to the numbers of the water quality index, the water quality in all stations, and sampling periods has not gone out of the range of good quality waters (50-100), and the range of changes is such that the water quality is favorable for human use. The highest numerical value of the quality index was recorded in the winter. The middle points of the lake have better quality compared to the peripheral parts and the inlet and outlet of the reservoir. It is worth noting that due to the increasing importance of Chahnimeh reservoirs and the trend of changes in the type of water consumption of these valuable resources, it seems necessary to carry out more detailed investigations, continuously evaluate and monitor the water quality, and design a water quality monitoring model for these sources.

Surface waters have various impurities. Aggregation of particles and their transformation from dispersed and fine states to coarse state is done by a process called coagulation process. This process is one of the basic processes in drinking water treatment plants. The purpose of this research is to provide a suitable relationship for determining the amount of chlorophric coagulant injection in the coagulation and flocculation process using fuzzy regression in drinking water treatment plant No. 3 of Mashhad. Temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity and TDS of raw and purified water have been used as primary data to determine the appropriate equation to predict the amount of coagulant injection in the purification process. Appropriate coefficients for different linear, power, exponential and quadratic models were determined in two types of least squares and regression. According to the results obtained in this research, the exponential-regression model with RMSE equal to 0.68. It has been introduced as a desirable model.

Graywater and rainwater reuse is one of the primary alternatives for diminishing water consumption in households, commercial and industrial buildings. However, investigating the performance of membrane technology coupled with UV system for the treatment of gray water and rainwater needs more applicable information. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of an experimental system based on membrane technology combined with UV for the treatment of gray water and rainwater in Iran. In this regard, at different pressures (9.5, 4.5, and 1.5 bar), different arrangements of membranes, including microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), and reverse osmosis membranes were investigated along with UV lamps. Laboratory scale experiments were conducted to investigate the potential of these technologies and present an optimal membrane arrangement. The efficiency of the process has been discussed in terms of turbidity, TDS, pH, COD, Escherichia coli, and total coliforms. The results indicated that for both gray water and rainwater treatment, the arrangement consisting of a screen, MF, UF, RO, and UV with a pressure of 9.5 bar is the best scenario for reducing COD, TDS, turbidity, and coliform. According to the obtained results, the output flow in the optimal state was 6 liters per minute, and the mentioned scenario was able to remove 95% COD, 98% TDS, 96% turbidity, and 100% coliform from graywater, as well as 82% COD, 94% TDS, 91% turbidity, and 100% coliform from rainwater. Therefore, the study acknowledges that membrane technology with UV is an attractive process and will play an important role in future sustainable life.

The Dunning–Kruger theory is a cognitive bias, in which people with low abilities or little expertise, grow high self-steam and value too high themselves. Water management actors, also experience such effect, that could lead to misevaluation of problems and their solutions. Overestimation of the ability and experience by water management actors can appear in different forms. The analysis carried out in this study shows that water management in Iran has been hopeless for a long time. Lack of knowledge management caused expertise and maturity in the actors of the water management system to not grow, and various plans in this ministry of energy have faced hesitation (S'ç S), unfortunately it has been extended in line with the deterioration of water resources. In other words, based on Dunning-Kruger theory & Eisenhower decision matrix the movement towards transformation and reform has not yet started. The identified solutions show that this movement can start with goal-setting and foresight (that is, developing a vision and strategic plan), knowledge management and change management based on the principles of "sustainable and resilient development". Of course, in order to avoid deviation from the path of evolution, it is also necessary to determine suitable indicators for monitoring the direction of movement.