Wang et al. (2026) Watershed-scale sustainable groundwater management using an agent-based modeling approach to policy interventions and stakeholder dynamics

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Water Management
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-11
• Authors: Yuzheng Wang, Fatemeh Arjaneh, Maryam Javansalehi, Mojtaba Shourian
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110690

Research Groups

• School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Jinan, China
• School of Water Conservancy and Environment, University of Jinan, China
• Faculty of Civil, Water and Environmental Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran

Short Summary

This study investigates sustainable water management strategies in a groundwater-dominant irrigated watershed using an agent-based modeling approach. The research evaluates the interactions among key stakeholders to support improved water resource management.

Objective

• Investigate the effects of policy interventions and stakeholder dynamics on groundwater management in a watershed-scale context.
• Develop a comprehensive decision-support framework for sustainable groundwater management under ongoing water scarcity, climate variability, and complex stakeholder dynamics.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Watershed scale (144 km²)
• Temporal Scale: 13-year simulation period from 1990 to 2018

Methodology and Data

• Models used:
  • SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) for surface hydrological processes
  • MODFLOW for groundwater dynamics
  • Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) for simulating farmers' decision-making and human-hydrological interactions
• Data sources:
  • Hydrological data from the Qomroud River at the Shadabad hydrometric station
  • Land use, soil, and crop-specific agricultural information
  • Meteorological variables (temperature and precipitation)
  • Groundwater data from 11 observation wells and 131 operational extraction wells

Main Results

• The study demonstrates that strategic interventions can substantially reduce groundwater withdrawals, increase aquifer levels, and positively impact farmers' economic outcomes.
• The findings show that a hybrid governance approach combining bottom-up stakeholder engagement with top-down enforcement can reduce groundwater use by 25% and slow aquifer depletion by 65%.
• The results highlight the importance of socio-behavioral considerations in policy design, demonstrating that behavioral differences rather than direct financial incentives drive variations in groundwater use.

Contributions

• This study contributes to the development of a comprehensive decision-support framework for sustainable groundwater management under ongoing water scarcity, climate variability, and complex stakeholder dynamics.
• The research highlights the importance of integrating socio-hydrological modeling frameworks with local socio-economic and environmental contexts to enhance policy effectiveness.

Funding

• This research was funded by [project name] (reference code: [code]) from [funding agency].

Citation

@article{Wang2026Watershedscale,
  author = {Wang, Yuzheng and Arjaneh, Fatemeh and Javansalehi, Maryam and Shourian, Mojtaba},
  title = {Watershed-scale sustainable groundwater management using an agent-based modeling approach to policy interventions and stakeholder dynamics},
  journal = {Agricultural Water Management},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110690},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110690}
}