Spatial water management under alternative institutional arrangements (A case study of coastal lands of Yengejeh Dam)

Currently, water demand management and optimal operation of its resources is one ofthe most important issues in environmental economics and management. Water demandmanagement has been a concern of economic planners as a new approach in environmentaleconomics. This study aims to investigate water demand management in different productmarkets in downstream of Yengejeh Dam in Neyshabur. This is an exploratory study innature which was conducted through a questionnaire survey in 2015-2016. The populationof this research is composed of all farmers who use water from Yengejeh Dam to irrigatetheir lands. Using Cochran formula at the level of 6% error, 139 farmers were selected asthe sample of this research randomly. A scenario of increasing the elasticity of productdemand in resource allocation in the competitive and monopolar water market wasdeveloped by assimilation algorithm in the studied region. According to the marketsituation of water in the region which is almost similar to monopolar water market, theresults suggest that if barley farmers replace cultivation of this crop and orient towardsexported products instead, the amount of product is reduced and farmers increase their yieldper hectare of land while using more water supply and more area under cultivation.