Safavi, H.R., Khoshoei Esfahani M., Zamani, A. R., (2014), Integrated Index for Assessment of Vulnerability to Drought, Case Study: Zayandehrood River Basin, Iran, Water Resources Management (2014) 28:1671–1688, DOI 10.1007/s11269-014-0576-4

Integrated Index for Assessment of Vulnerability to Drought, Case Study: Zayandehrood River Basin, Iran

Hamid R. Safavi, Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran, hasafavi@cc.iut.ac.ir

Mehrdad Khoshoei Esfahani, Graduate Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran, mehrdadkhoshoei@cv.iut.ac.ir

Ahmad R. Zamani, Assistant Professor, Subsea Research and Design Center, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran, arzamani@cc.iut.ac.ir

Abstract

Drought is an extended period of deficient precipitation that causes damage to crops and reducing their performance, causes temporary scarcity of water for human/livestock consumption. Over the years, various indices have been proposed to identify onset, characterize and quantify the attributes of meteorological, hydrological and agricultural drought by various researchers. Because of the spatial and temporal variability and multiple impacts of drought, it is necessary to develop an integrated index for assessment of vulnerability of this natural phenomenon. The aim of this paper is presenting an integrated index for assessment of vulnerability to drought using multiple factors which includes hydrological, meteorological, land use and other factors. Spatial information of various factors was categorized in to various sub-classes and maps were prepared in spatial domain using Geographic Information System (GIS). This study has been carried out in the Zayandehrood River basin located in west-central Iran with semi-arid region. Due to continue droughts at recent decade, this area has been chosen as a case study. The long-term climate data (1991–2011) used for assessment. The results show that Zayandehrood River basin has experienced 11 dry years, 4 normal years, and 6 wet years in the 21 years. The results have been validated with intensive field surveys.

Keywords:

Drought . Vulnerability. Integrated index . Assessment . Zayandehrood River basin

Water Resources Management (2014) 28:1671–1688

DOI 10.1007/s11269-014-0576-4