Build a zone code. See what survives it
Set the classification the evaluation returned for a zone, and the production system the area supports. Each model is then reported as available, conditional or unavailable, with the finding that produced the result.
Each ledger category carries a different field of models
The evaluation reports developable area in five categories. Those categories are not just an accounting of where land stands — each one closes and opens a different set of mechanisms. Select a category to route it.
Blocked on paperwork only is the one finding that is fully within the Ministry's control
Land in this category is capable, watered, and clear on every register except tenure. Nothing physical stands in the way, and no investment is required to change its status — only registration. Yet until that happens, every mechanism that transfers an interest is closed to it, which is every mechanism in the catalogue except direct public operation and the two contract structures.
It is the only ledger category where the constraint is administrative rather than physical, and therefore the only one where the state can widen the field of available models by its own action alone.
What closes a model, and on what finding
Every routing result traces to one of these rules, or to the operator-class test applied alongside them. Three rules are terminal — they close the zone rather than narrow the field. The rest restrict which mechanisms remain workable.
| Rule | Finding | Effect on model choice | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | E3 prohibited | No model applies. Terminal | Development is barred by designation. No allocation mechanism changes a designation |
| R2 | CN or W4 | No model applies. Terminal | A limitation that cannot be addressed, or no viable supply. The zone is not developable by any route |
| R3 | E2 unrecorded tenure | Every model transferring an interest is closed until registered | Land whose tenure is unrecorded cannot be sold, leased or contributed. This is administrative, not physical — and it is the most actionable finding in the study |
| R4 | E0 no record located | All models conditional pending verification | An absent record is never permission. It is a reason to check the register, not to allocate |
| R5 | W2y declining non-renewable | Perpetual transfer flagged; long terms must match the supply horizon | The state would part with land whose productive life it cannot guarantee. Term set to investor payback rather than aquifer horizon is the documented Saudi failure |
| R6 | W3 conditional water | Restricted to models carrying their own water solution | Usable only under defined conditions or treatment. A model that assumes supply cannot operate here |
| R7 | W0 supply unverified | All models conditional | Supply may exist but has not been confirmed. Allocation would commit against an unverified resource |
| R8 | C3 or S3 marginal | Favours models where the state shares development risk; outright sale flagged | The area requires investment to become productive. Under sale the buyer absorbs a physical risk the state was better placed to know |
| R9 | Low confidence on the governing element | All binding long-term commitments conditional | The zone is not ready for a commitment that cannot be revisited. Field verification precedes allocation |
| R10 | Below minimum viable area | Closes the operator class the zone sits in; reroutes to a system with a smaller requirement | A fragment below the minimum for its production system is retained and flagged, not discarded. It remains developable — by a different operator class |
| R11 | Capability subclass letter | Distinguishes limitations investment can correct from those it cannot | The class says how severe; the letter says what. Salinity and nutrient limitations respond to a named intervention. Terrain, sand drift and erosion largely do not |
| R12 | Water subclass letter | Sets which axis of the water finding constrains the model | Sustainability, quality, volume, access and basin allocation each restrict a different set of mechanisms. Reading only the class loses that distinction |
Subclass letters and what they route
A subclass letter names the limitation group that produced the class. Two zones can share a class and route differently because the letter differs.
| Letter | Limitation group | Routing consequence |
|---|---|---|
| z | Salinity, sodicity | Correctable by a named intervention. Favours models where the state shares development risk |
| n | Nutrient, toxicity, carbonate, pH | Correctable through inputs. The lowest barrier of the capability letters |
| w f | Drainage, waterlogging, flood | Correctable by works. Favours risk-sharing, and conditions outright sale |
| s t e d | Soil physical, terrain, erosion, sand drift | Not readily corrected. Conditions the development test in a conditional grant, and mechanised large-block systems |
| c | Climate | Limits crop choice rather than mechanism. Closes no model |
| y | Water sustainability | Triggers the term-against-horizon test. The letter that closes perpetual transfer |
| q | Water quality | Requires treatment. Favours models carrying their own water solution |
| v | Volume, availability | Caps the scale a model can reach. Conditions large-block instruments |
| a | Access, pumping lift, conveyance | A capital requirement before production. Conditions models built for operators without capital |
| b | Basin allocation | New abstraction may not be licensable. Conditions every model until allocation is confirmed |
Comparing models that are not available wastes the comparison
The Comparison Matrix reads every model against every criterion, which is the right way to weigh options that are genuinely open. Routing runs first, because a zone held by an unrecorded title has no transfer options to weigh — it has one action, which is to register the title.
This is also where the applications connect. The classification is not context for the investment decision. It is a constraint on it.
How a classification becomes a shortlist
Each route below is a realistic combination from the evaluation's own class scheme. Select any of them in the router to see the full result.