Analysis of Agricultural Water Resources' capabilities in Rural Districts of Buin and Miandasht County

Introduction Water resources are maybe the most important and the most necessary available resource for human and agriculture section. Agriculture section with almost 11 percent of gross domestic production, 23 percent of employment, and more than 80 percent of feeding the people of the country has a vital role in Iran's economy. Water as the most important factor in agriculture section, has a significant effect on agriculture production. Special climate conditions in Iran such as dry weather, inappropriate spatial and temporal rainfalls are inevitable realities which limit the production and sustainable agriculture management to use water resources of the country correctly and reasonably. In modern management theories that are related to water resources limitation, water is considered as a socioeconomic item and the first human need for different usages including agricultural use. It seems that there are many water resources, but, in fact, available water resources are limited. So, attention to type and method of supplying water resources for agriculture use and suitable usage of them for valuable productions can be helpful in the way of correct management and usage of water resources. This study aims to consider effective indicators in the method of water resources usage for agriculture development and management of water resources. So the aim of the study is to answer these questions: In the studied villages, how are basic water resources supplied? Which villages are more capable of supplying water? Methodology This study is a descriptive-analytic one, which aims to assess the capability of water resources in agriculture section. Data collection has been done by using official and written documents; firstly through literature review and secondly by field study. In collecting official documents we used statistical documents of Iran's Statistic Center, Agriculture Organization of the province, Dehyari, health centers of the county, Rural Water Organization; and for field study we used the researcher's self-designed questionnaire. For these propose, water resources indicators, climates, geomorphology, economic, social and environmental factors are classified to 33 items which are related to this study. The study population includes Buin and Miandasht County, located in the west of Isfahan province. The population of this county has been more than 26000 people in 2011. This county has 46 residential villages and for sample population, 5 villages in different rural districts have been chosen according to parameters like dispersion, population and distance from the county's center. The county's center is Buin which means "warehouse"; it is located 250 km far from Isfahan and its elevation is 2450 meter above sea level. This county includes five districts: Yeelagh, Gorji, North Grachembo, South Grachembo, Sardsiri and five rural districts. Discussion and Conclusion Because of water resource limitation, water saving methods and reform of irrigation system should be focused and these activities play an important role in raising water resource capability. Even though there are many water resources, water stress is happening in some rural districts and studies show that more than two-thirds of the provinces in the country are facing with this phenomena. The study results showed that firstly new policies in exploiting water resources and land are necessary regarding to water resource capability in agriculture section, in rural districts. Secondly, correct management of water resources and increasing the efficiency of productivity, job creation and diversification of rural activities without considering capabilities of water resources in rural districts is impossible; and finally, low level of education has negative impacts on efficiency of productivity and also on modern methods of utilizing irrigation systems in the villages. Moreover, there is a direct relation between rainfall and the amount of production in rural districts; fluctuations of production are related to fluctuations in rainfall with an almost regular process and this indicates the lack of modern irrigation systems and dominance of traditional agriculture in the studied area. Considering the water resources of rural settlements in four different types, it was found that Dareh-hovz village is on the top and Masumabad village is on the down low and this ranking is related to environmental diversity. Regarding these issues and according to field studies and observations, it seems that focusing on infrastructures and tourism boom in Dareh-hovz village and development of agriculture in accordance with changes in cropping pattern and consumption pattern in the studied villages especially in Masumabad is necessary. In Dareh-hovz village, variety of economic activities including tourism, in one hand can play an important role in population stability of the village and in the other hand in decreasing the use of water resources in agriculture section. Finally, it can be said that separation of water resources in some villages around and catchment basins like Dashkesen and Aznaveleh villages need economic diversification.