The project "Contribution to restoration of Lake Urmia via modeling local community participation in sustainable agriculture and biodiversity" was considered as one of the activities of Lake Urmia restoration, in which the Department of Environmental of Iran in cooperation with the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture attempt to provide part of the payment for Urmia lake through the training and participation of regional farmers and transferring the technique to agriculture. In this plan, while paying attention to preserving the interests and income of farmers, changes have been made in traditional farming practices to reduce applied water at farm level and increase water productivity. Currently, most of the agricultural fields are irrigated by surface irrigation systems in the Urmia Basin. In order to achieve the objectives of the plan, improving and modifying surface irrigation methods, it is inevitable. Achievement of high efficiency and uniformity in surface irrigation management is complex, due to the large number of parameters affecting surface irrigation, as well as their temporal and spatial variations; hence improving irrigation performance based on variables with minimal operating cost, ease of use and practical at farm were noticed.
The edition of this book is supported by Conservation Iranian Wetlands Project based on the results of the joint activities by the Conservation Iranian Wetlands Project Office, Agricultural Engineering Research Institute, Irrigation and Drainage Department of Tarbiat Modarres University and Urmia University during 2015 -2016. We also would like to express our gratitude to the efforts of colleagues in the Conservation Iranian Wetlands Project Office.