Sub-watershed prioritization based on sediment yield using game theory

The proper placement of soil and water conservation measures cannot be designated due to lack of appropriate technical prioritization of different areas of a watershed. Therefore, quantifying soil erosion hazard and spatial prioritization of sub-watersheds would aid in better watershed management planning. Although, many approaches have been applied to prioritize sub-watersheds, but still the efficient techniques like game theory have not been practically applied to prioritize sub-watersheds. The present study therefore has used the game theory to prioritize sub-watersheds in Gorganroud and Qareh Sou watersheds in Golestan Province, northern Iran. Towards this goal, 38 independent factors were classified in seven components using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method with one representative variable in each component. The Condorcet method used for prioritization of effective variables indicated that the percent of forestry lands (52 scores) and discharge with 10 years of return period (32 scores) were respectively the most and the least effective variables on sediment yield. The Fallback bargaining and the Borda Scoring algorithms were also selected to prioritize study sub-watersheds based on weighted grades of total score for each variable. Accordingly, the aforesaid algorithms classified sub-watersheds in three categories. Comparison of results similarly introduced Galikesh, Qazaqli, Gonbad, Siyah Ab and Tamar as first ranked sub-watersheds with the worth condition, Tangrah and Naharkhoran as second priority and eventually Pole Ordougah as sub-watershed with the lowest priority.