: Agent based Model for Development of Groundwater Framework vis-à-vis
Surface Water Management for improved Returns of Water Resources in
Irrigated Agriculture of Pakistan
Abstract
Modeling socio-ecological interactions are one of the essential
requirements for water resource management in water-stressed areas.
Mismanagement of water resource combined with extensive withdrawal by
farmers in Indus Basin is putting pressure on freshwater resources. In
some areas sever depletion of groundwater is evident. Waterlogging
remains a bigger problems in the areas with higher surface water
endowments, causing salinization; a greatest threat to long-term
groundwater sustainability. Physical water management solution wouldn’t
be a successful approach as it ignores water users’ behaviors; their
interaction with each other and the feedback effects they receive from
the system. We have developed an ABM model simulating the system by
varying different agro-climatic parameters for water withdrawal
behaviours of framers to substantiate a groundwater development
framework in conjunction with the management of surface water. Overtime
spatially distributed farmers’ caricaturized scenarios were built to
include groundwater depth fluctuations for better management of water
resources. Self-governing Rules (SGR) and Institutional Management
Perspective(IMP) bring equity in water availability and prevent
agriculture from worsening water quality parameters. However,
consistency in the benefits may break down in extreme cases of climate
change and spatio-physical conditions. Our water management perspectives
provide improved outcomes of water withdrawal. SGR perspective managed
to increase groundwater abstraction price 3 times more than the existing
rates for the farmers located near water source. For the farmers located
at tails IMP appears to manage resource better than other scenarios.
Better and sustainable water withdrawal management requires to have
area-wise policies and institutional support for promotion of norms.