water Article The Application of Multi-Criteria Analysis Methods for the Determination of Priorities in the Implementation of Irrigation Plans Barbara Karleuša 1,* , Andreja Hajdinger 2 and Lidija Tadi´c 2 1 Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Rijeka, Rijeka 51 000, Croatia 2 Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek 31 000, Croatia;
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[email protected] (L.T.) * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +385-51-265-935 Received: 27 December 2018; Accepted: 5 March 2019; Published: 10 March 2019 Abstract: Irrigated agriculture has considerable impacts on the environment. To minimize negative effects and maximize positive effects, it is necessary to provide comprehensive analyses beyond the strictly technical domain. In this study, we apply a methodology for determining priorities in implementing irrigation plans using multi-criteria analysis methods on a specific case study area in the sub-catchment area of the Orljava River in Požega–Slavonia County, Croatia. Five potential irrigation areas (Orljava–Londža, Pleternica, Ovˇcare, Treštanovci, and Venje–Hrnjevac) were analyzed according to five selected criteria: environmental protection, water-related (four sub-criteria), social, economic, and time criteria with different criteria importance (weight). The aim of this study was to confirm the adequacy of using six multi-criteria analysis (MCA) methods (mostly used: PROMETHEE, AHP, ELECTRE TRI, and the less used: DEXi, PRIME, and PCA) in determining priorities for fulfilling irrigation plans, present models for preparation of the input data, apply certain methods, and compare the results on the selected case study area. The methods’ adequacy was confirmed during the research.