Performance evaluation of irrigation projects: Theories, methods, and techniques

The purpose of this paper is to review and represent the knowledge that has been gained in irrigation system performance evaluation. This article is based on the literature that is concerned with concepts, framework, and methodologies applied to the assessment and evaluation of irrigation projects and their performance. The development of irrigation performance evaluation concepts was represented and different frameworks were discussed. In order to assess and evaluate irrigation performance, several methods were developed and used. The main methods used to evaluate irrigation system performance are the Fuzzy set theory, direct measurements for indicators, Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Remote Sensing (RS). All these methods were identified and discussed. As for the criteria proposed in the literature, although they offer a wide range of choices for characterizing all aspects of performance evaluation, however, still there is no agreed approach that could be offered to assess the performance of different irrigation systems. It could be concluded that the selection of the evaluation framework and method largely depends on the nature of irrigation system and the purpose of evaluation.