ARS | Publication request: PLANEACION MULTIOBJETIVO EN LOS DISTRITOS DE RIEGO EN MEXICO. APLICACION DE UN SISTEMA DE AUXCLIO PARA LA TOMA DE DECISIONES 1817

Submitted to: Popular Publication
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: January 15, 2006
Publication Date: September 1, 2006
Citation: Cohen, I.S., Rodriguez, H.M., Heilman, P., Cervantes, G.G., Moreno, S.F., Inzunza, M.A., Avalos, J.E. 2006. Planeacion multiobjetivo en los distritos de riego en mexico. Aplicacion de un sistema de auxclio para la toma de decisiones. Ingenieria Hidraulica en Mexico. 21(3):101-111.

Interpretive Summary: This paper presents a detailed explanation, in Spanish, of the use of a multiobjective decision support system with a Spanish language interface to address water management in an irrigation district. The problem of agreement among interests in the management of natural resources is complex, with interactions difficult to measure. Watershed users have several objectives that need to be considered when developing a plan to improve water management. A multiobjective decision support system is an appropriate tool to integrate these objectives and assess the desirability of possible actions. A case study using the decision support system called the Facilitator is presented. The Facilitator helps the irrigation district structure the decision making process to consider decision alternatives, order of hierarchy, score functions and linear programming for identifying best decision alternatives for the management of a given problem. For the Irrigation District 017, to help solve the overall problem of irrigation water productivity, the highest ranked alternatives include pricing water, training water users, and delivering water by volume. Out of the eight alternatives analyzed, all alternatives scored better than the current management system.

Technical Abstract: The problem of agreement among interests in the management of natural resources is complex with interactions difficult of measure. Watershed users have several objectives that impact in the short run the environment. Multiobjective decision theory considers interests, options and impacts of possible actions. Considering that the Irrigation Districts are at the lower end of the gradient that defines a watershed, Irrigation District 017 was used as study case for use of the Spanish language interface to the decision Support System called Facilitator. This software tool supports decision making processes with the use of decision alternatives, order of hierarchy, score functions and linear programming for identifying best decision alternatives for the management of a given problem. For the Irrigation District 017, to help solve the overall problem of irrigation water productivity, first water needs to be priced, water users trained and water delivered water by volume. Out of the eight alternatives analyzed, all scored better than the current management system.