Irrigation canal assessment using geomatics techniques

Abstract

Abstract Water is one of the most important resources supporting life on Earth, yet this seemingly ubiquitous resource has become the source of multiple different emergencies rising significant concerns at international and national levels. This research examines the water crisis faced by Iraq as a consequence of a large portion of its water originating from outside of its boundaries, including sources in Iran, Turkey and Syria; more specifically, it studies the issue of the water shortage in the Wend River by evaluating the placement of the Blajo canal using a GIS based TOPSIS method. The approach taken evaluates existing canal dependency using TOPSIS as one of the MCDM techniques to consider the distance between every option from both the positive perfect point and from the negative perfect point. This was done to ensure that the best option had optimal distance from both the positive point and the from the negative point. The results showed that the best spatial location for the Blajo canal was in alternative a4, which was ranked 3 within the TOPSIS method. This rating reflects the site is near to arable areas and satisfies some criteria but is not the best location with respect to other factors.