Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Ebrahim Karimi Sangchini ¹
• Seyed Hossein Arami ²
• Ehsan Alvandi ³
• Ebrahim Yousefi Mobarhan ⁴
• Ali Dastranj ⁵
• Maryam Sadat Jaafarzadeh ⁶

¹ Assistant Professor, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Department, Lorestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Khorramabad, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Forests and Rangelands Research Department, Khuzestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Ahvaz, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Institute (SCWMRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.

⁴ Assistant Professor, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Department, Semnan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center(AREEO), Semnan, Iran.

⁵ Assistant Professor, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Department, khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center (AREEO), Mashhhad. Iran

⁶ Postdoc Researcher, Department of Reclamation of Arid and Mountainous Regions, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Abstract

This study aims to assess the social and economic impacts of this station on surrounding rural communities and identify factors influencing public participation. The statistical population consisted of 195 households residing in three villages adjacent to the Davood Rashid Flood Spreading Station, of which 130 individuals were selected as the sample using Cochran’s formula. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire, whose validity was confirmed by experts and reliability was verified by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (0.829). The designed questionnaire included various sections, such as demographic characteristics, level and type of participation, evaluation of factors affecting participation, and strategies for its improvement. For data analysis, descriptive statistics were used to outline the demographic characteristics of the community, and inferential tests, such as exploratory factor analysis, were employed to identify the main dimensions affecting participation. The Friedman test was also utilized to rank the factors and strategies. In the analysis of factors affecting participation, three economic factors—"creating new job opportunities," "diversifying income sources," and "increasing household income"—ranked first with mean ranks of 12.55, 12.44, and 12.17, respectively, while "enhancing women’s participation" was identified as the main weakness of the project with a mean rank of 3.02. The Friedman test also confirmed a significant difference between the ranks (χ² = 1013.631). In the section on strategies to improve participation, tangible and livelihood-oriented strategies including "improving water resources" (mean rank = 12.56), "enhancing rural facilities" (12.16), and "increasing income and land productivity" (12.02) were found to be the most effective, while institutional and process-oriented strategies such as "receiving financial support" (3.19) had the least impact. The results indicate that while the Davood Rashid Flood Spreading Project has succeeded in the economic domain and infrastructural development, it requires serious strengthening in the social domain and institutional aspects.

Keywords

• Floodwater Spreading
• Public Participation
• Socio-economic Impacts
• Watershed Management
• Local Communities