Presentation of a new decision-making plan for prioritizing the rehabilitation of sustainable groundwater resources (case study: 9 aflaj of Oman)

Abstract

Groundwater extraction through aflaj has been a long-standing practice with minimal modifications since its invention. This research for the first time, presents a plan for the rehabilitation of aflaj systems in Oman from a technical point of view. Using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in Expert Choice software. Nine famous aflaj systems in Oman were prioritized based on indicators including length, population, precipitation, discharge, quality, distance from the river network, cultivated area, and soil permeability. A snowball method for selecting participants was used, and a 28-item questionnaire was engaged to assess the relative importance of nine criteria when choosing the prior falaj. A scientific method is applied in a new case in this study to prioritize the aflaj for rehabilitation, and the method applied in this research enables to prioritize them to achieve the desired goal. The AHP method prioritizes the falaj Daris as the first ranking, based on the technical perspectives, with a relative value of 0.222. Findings show that in an equal condition, among these nine aflaj, it would be better that water decision-makers assign the budget to falaj Daris for rehabilitation aims.