An integrated new approach for optimizing rainwater harvesting system with dams site selection in the Dewana Watershed, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

Water scarcity in Kurdistan-Iraq has become a crucial problem, particularly in semi-arid regions, as a result of severe droughts over the last decades. One potential solution to this water shortage is using rainwater harvesting (RWH) techniques. In this study, optimal sites of RWH in the Dewana watershed were identified using a combination of remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS), with multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) models, including analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and weighted sum method (WSM).