determining irrigators preferences for water allocation criteria using conjoint analysis确定使用联合分析对水的灌溉者喜好分配标准.pdfVIP

Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2012, 4, 249-255 /10.4236/jwarp.2012.45027 Published Online May 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jwarp) Determining Irrigators Preferences for Water Allocation Criteria Using Conjoint Analysis Noor Ul Hassan Zardari1*, Ian Cordery2 1Institute of Environmental and Water Resources Management (IPASA), University of Technology Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, Malaysia 2School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia * Email: noorulhassan@utm.my Received January 12, 2012; revised February 13, 2012; accepted March 16, 2012 ABSTRACT Water allocation based on multiple criteria has the potential to maximize the total benefits to be gained from the use of a single unit of water. However most of the multi-criteria methods inherently include a considerable degree of subjectiv- ity. In this study, we have attempted to reduce the subjectivity factor from water allocation decision-making process by introducing a conjoint analysis method. Opinions on the importance of a number of water allocation criteria were sought from a large number of irrigation farmers. The opinion survey data were then analyzed using the traditional conjoint analysis method which is widely used to analyze marketing surveys. The analysis allowed objective determina- tion of the relative importance of five water allocation criteria (i.e. net farm income, percent of family working on the farm, amount paid to irrigation agency for canal water share). Each water allocation criteria was divided into three lev- els and utili