Building a System Dynamics Model to Achieve Optimal Economic Efficiency of Groundwater Use, Case Study: Wadi Al-Dawasir, Saudi Arabia

An agricultural hydro-economic System Dynamics model is built to study optimal solutions for economic efficiency of groundwater use and to achieve water and food sustainability in Wadi Al-Dawasir. Seven scenarios are proposed for the period (2017-2030). These scenarios are designed to study the anticipated effects of the government’s decision to stop growing fodder crops by 2019. The results showed that the implementation of this decision would reduce the cumulative depletion of water by 21 billion m3. In addition, the transfer from fodder to vegetable farming is the least water consuming and offers higher value agricultural products than other scenarios.