A fuzzy multicriteria benefit–cost approach for irrigation projects evaluation

► A fuzzy multicriteria benefit–cost approach is proposed in order to evaluate three alternative irrigation projects based on economic, social, and environmental criteria. ► The fuzzy AHP method is very suitable when both costs and benefits cannot be easily expressed into monetary terms and a valuab...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agricultural water management 2011-07, Vol.98 (9), p.1409-1416
Main Authors: Anagnostopoulos, K.P., Petalas, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural and forest climatology and meteorology. Irrigation. Drainage
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Analytic hierarchy process
Analytic hierarchy process Decision making Fuzzy sets Linguistic variables Water resources planning
Biological and medical sciences
cost benefit analysis
Decision making
Economics
ecosystems
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Fuzzy
Fuzzy logic
Fuzzy set theory
Fuzzy sets
General agronomy. Plant production
Irrigation
Linguistic variables
Resource management
water management
Water resources
Water resources planning
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Summary:► A fuzzy multicriteria benefit–cost approach is proposed in order to evaluate three alternative irrigation projects based on economic, social, and environmental criteria. ► The fuzzy AHP method is very suitable when both costs and benefits cannot be easily expressed into monetary terms and a valuable tool to cope with vague judgments. ► The fuzzy AHP method is especially suitable in situations with missing quantitative data. Three alternative irrigation projects for the East Macedonia-Thrace Region, Greece, are considered. Given the presence of valuable natural ecosystems in the area, environmental considerations are of great importance. In order to evaluate the projects, a fuzzy multicriteria benefit–cost approach is proposed. The overall goal is the rational management of water resources, and the projects appraisal is based on economic, social, and environmental criteria. Alternative scenarios on the availability of water resources are also incorporated in the decision model. The decision problem is formulated as two hierarchies, and the projects are ranked according to the benefit–cost ratio of their global priorities. The proposed method is proved to be, on the one hand, very suitable when both costs and benefits cannot be easily expressed into monetary terms as the traditional benefit–cost analysis requires; and, on the other hand, a valuable tool to cope with vague judgments.
ISSN:0378-3774
1873-2283
DOI:10.1016/j.agwat.2011.04.009