Canal rehabilitation improves water management and agricultural productivity but requires balancing immediate benefits with long-term sustainability risks. Unlike previous studies that focused mainly on water seepage and groundwater effects, this research takes a comprehensive approach by integrating environmental, social, and economic factors to create strategic guidelines for sustainable canal projects. This holistic method ensures that water infrastructure improvements optimize performance while maintaining ecological balance, supporting communities, and addressing water security challenges amid climate change and increasing demand. This research introduces a novel approach for conducting quantitative risk assessments of concrete-lined canals by combining Fuzzy logic, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). This integrated framework allows for the effective identification and prioritization of key risk factors associated with concrete canal lining projects. To validate the methodology, the study applied it to a case study in Egypt. Risk factors were categorized and analyzed across three primary domains: environmental, economic, and social. Using the FAHP-TOPSIS approach, the study assigned weighted values to individual risk factors within each domain, enabling a comparative evaluation of risk indices and a systematic ranking of environmental, economic, and social considerations. The findings revealed that environmental risk domain had higher index values compared to economic and social domain. Notably, groundwater depletion emerged as a critical factor with a significant impact on the overall risk index. The research employs bow-tie analysis to thoroughly investigate the five most critical risk factors.
Gamal et al. (Sat,) studied this question.