Multi-Criteria Analysis of Water Allocation Scenarios in a Water Scarce Basin

In 2015, a “Post-2015 Development Agenda” is defined for future global developments in water management. The proposed goal is referred to as SDG’s or Sustainable Development Goals, which will balance the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development with a strong linkage between environment and socio-economic goals. One of the major concepts of SDG’s is water security, which is the basic element of the Global Goal on Water, now defined as: “Securing Sustainable Water for All”. The proposal for a Global Goal for Water is associated with targets and indicators to help countries reach the goal by 2030. Among the five main targets specified, two major ones emphasize “water allocation” as an important support of water security, particularly in conditions of water security. This paper focuses on this latter issue in the case of water scarce Gediz Basin along the Aegean coast of Turkey, where irrigation is the major water consuming activity. In addition to allocation of water among other water use sectors and irrigation, it is important in the basin how irrigation water is allocated to various crops, as previous droughts struck crop yields the most. Thus, 16 alternative allocation scenarios are developed to assess the crop yield produced by each scenario. These alternatives are represented by social, economic and environmental indicators as criteria for selection the most favorable alternative. The selection is realized by Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) methodology, using the Reference Point Approach (RPA). In terms of methodology, presented paper shows that RPA is a powerful tool to guide engineers and decision makers to rationally select among several possible alternatives in water allocation.