Irrigation, which is the most important practice that increases agricultural production in arid and semi-arid regions, has stimulating effects on both the economy in the regions, where production is made, and the global world economy by ensuring the sustainability of food production. From this point of view, irrigation, which is a compulsory and indispensable practice for meeting food needs, has started to be questioned in recent years due to climate change and its negative effects on ecosystems, especially on freshwater resources. Due to the nature of agricultural activities, this questioning is often carried out along with the impact of agricultural production on ecosystems, which makes it difficult to understand the impact of irrigation on ecosystems. On the other hand, most of the research to determine the effectiveness of irrigation has focused on performance analysis of irrigation systems or determination of water use efficiency (WUE) and water productivity (WP). However, in order to achieve sustainable irrigation, the economy, environment, rural communities, and natural resources affected by irrigation need to be assessed in a holistic approach. To make this assessment, technical, economic, social, and institutional indicators capable of representing the irrigated area need to be defined.