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Precise classification and identification of groundwater quality is an essential task for meeting the goals of environmental management. Traditional classification methods of the water quality parameters use crisp set with prescribed limits of various organization. One of the decision making problems about water quality using methods is facing various uncertainties. Recent years have proven fuzzy-logicbased methods capability controlling uncertainties in different environmental problems. The present study utilized a newly devised Mamdani fuzzy inference system to assess groundwater quality in Yazd province. This method made use of 10 measured chemical parameters in 60 samples of groundwater. The samples were collected from wells, springs and kanats. The results showed that 20 groundwater samples were in the "Desirable" class with a certainty level of 32.29-100%, and 20 samples were in the "Acceptable" group with a certainty level of 37.07-92%, and 20 samples were in the "Non-acceptable" category with a certainty level of 43.33-88.78% for potable purposes.

Land subsidence induced by rapid groundwater depletion in Fars Province (Iran) has led to serious problems for agricultural lands, structures and infrastructures, also its destructive effects on the Achaemenid Empire monuments has raised national concerns. Over the past three decades, mainly due to the increasing reliance of the economy on agriculture, the number of water wells has grown rapidly (7100 new wells with the annual withdrawal of 1.1 billion m3) and therefore the groundwater storage has decreased 10 billion m3 and groundwater level has declined averagely 11 m. To cease groundwater depletion and land subsidence, Iran's sustainable groundwater management programme that is currently being implemented to sustain aquifers is considered as the main remedy solution. To analyse the efficiency of the programme implementation in sustaining the aquifers of the province so far, the status of aquifers levels before the programme implementation (before 2015) is compared to its current status (after 2015). The results indicate that by implementing the programme, 22 out of 100 aquifers, mostly located in the southern half of the province, have been sustained. Although, mainly due to inappropriate management and limited financial support, 25 aquifers are still in critical condition, some of which are the most important aquifers in the province. However, implementing sustainable groundwater management in basins facing land subsidence due to groundwater overexploitation is important since it can minimize or stop land subsidence by sustaining aquifers and preventing groundwater drawdown.

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Aggressive recharge water is capable of widening the surface and interior openings of karstic layers that leads to the easy flowing of water in this type of aquifers. The object of this study is to understand if surface karstification is the same as the interior karst development of an aquifer. Surface karstification was analyzed using Geographic Information System and remote sensing techniques, while interior karstification was studied with spring hydrograph analysis. The study area includes seven carbonate aquifers in the Zagros Region of Iran. The surface karstification of these aquifers is controlled by different factors including the thickness of carbonate formations, distance from faults, fracture density, precipitation, temperature, vegetation index, slope, and relief. The most important factors are precipitation and presence and density of faults and fractures; while the least significant factor is the vegetation cover. The spring hydrograph analysis shows that there are different ways of estimating the relative karst development, but each parameter that impacts the specific character of the karst aquifer might be independent of others. Furthermore, comparing the relative surface and interior karst development demonstrates that the possible relationship between them is unpredictable. Consequently, we define a specific and unique numeric method to assess the interior karst development that permits a meaningful concept and comparison among different aquifers throughout the world.