Multi-criteria Decision Making for Integrated Urban Water Management

The city of Zahedan, in South-eastern Iran, has high population growth, limited local freshwater resources and inadequate water distribution system resulting in water supply failures in recent years. This paper will investigate integration of several demand management measures such as leakage detection on water distribution network, water metering and low volume water fixtures as well as the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources of this city. For integration of water management criteria, compromise programming will be used as a multi-objective decision making method. The criteria include minimizing the cost, maximizing water supply and minimizing the social hazards due to the water supply operations. This model will derive optimum long-term plans for implementation of water resources. The results will show that demand management can delay a water transfer project for Zahedan city up to 10 years. Compromise programming is as an efficient tool for integrated water resources management in urban areas and the method is capable to being used by decision-makers in other cases.     

A Water Accounting System for Strategic Water Management

This paper describes a water accounting system (WAS) that has been developed as an innovative new tool for strategic long-term water management. The WAS incorporates both disaggregated water use and availability, provides a comprehensive and consistent historical database, and can integrate climate and hydrological model outputs for the exploration of scenarios. It has been established and tested for the state of Victoria in Australia, and can be extended to cover other or all regions of Australia. The WAS is implemented using stock-and-flow dynamics, currently employing major river basins as the spatial units and a yearly time step. While this system shares features with system dynamics, learning is enhanced and strategic management of water resources is improved by application of a Design Approach and the structure of the WAS. We compare the WAS with other relevant accounting systems and outline its benefits, particularly the potential for resolving tensions between water supply and demand. Integrated management is facilitated by combination with other stocks and flows frameworks that provide data on key drivers such as demography, land-use and electricity production.     

The Need for Gender Analysis in Strategic Planning for Effective Water Management in Sri Lanka

With diminishing investments both the irrigation and water supply sector in Sri Lanka has had to resort to participatory management with enhanced stakeholder interaction. The use of gender participation in capacity building varies in the two major state agencies involved in water resources management:the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) and the Dept of Irrigation (ID). The differing gender needs and contributions are recognized to a considerable extent and incorporated into planning, operation and maintenance of rural water supply, but the same recognition is not accorded to gender considerations as an issue affecting capacity building in the irrigation sector.     

A Landscape Planning and Management Tool for Land and Water Resources Management: An Example Application in Northern Ethiopia

Land and water degradation due to on-site soil/nutrient loss and off-site pollution/sedimentation are serious environmental problems. Landscape planning and management tools are essential to implement best management practices targeted at locations where they are needed most. Although many soil/water-landscape studies have been published in the last 2 decades, progress in developing operational tools for supporting landscape planning to minimize land and water degradation in developing regions is still modest. Some of the existing tools are data demanding and/or complicated to be useful to data scarce regions. Some require detailed understanding of the hydrological and modelling processes and thus less applicable to local stakeholders involved in land use planning and management. A user-friendly LAndscape Planning and MAnagement Tool (LAPMAT) developed to facilitate land management decision-making. LAPMAT is a menu-oriented interactive graphical user interface that can aid decision makers identify hotspot areas of soil erosion and evaluate the effects of alternative land use management practices at a catchment scale. The modelling framework and its interfaces are designed to guide the user through a series of menus that: 1) allow input model parameters, adjusting coefficients, visualizing input parameters and executing the model; 2) enable changing land use and management practices and re-evaluating potential consequences; 3) allow viewing results in tabular, graphical or map form side-by-side; and 4) (re)-evaluating the respective impacts of management/conservation options. The framework has been applied to assess the severity of soil erosion and simulate the impact of different land management practices using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) adjusted for sediment delivery ratio in an example catchment of northern Ethiopia. The results showed average sediment yield rate of 55 t ha^?1 y^?1. Conservation measures targeted at high soil loss areas and gullies gave the maximum reduction in sediment yield by about 80 %. Since LAPMAT allows users handle the selection of management/planning options and provide fast and responsive outputs, it can assist in effective multi-stakeholder negotiations over land-use planning where the minimization of land/water degradation is the ultimate goal.     

Decision Making Tool for Sustainable Water Sharing

This paper explores the possibility of using a calibrated rainfall-runoff model as a decision-making tool in sustainable water sharing. Designing institutional arrangements for runoff sharing process in the case of a sub-catchment spread across geopolitical boundary is challenging. For the water sharing arrangement to be sustainable, it must be founded on realistic runoff predictions. The climate uncertainties make the water sharing process more complex and complicated. This context warrants a decision-making tool for helping the water sharing policy makers and its managers in taking a decision. In this study, a decision-making tool for sharing the waters of Parambikulam sub-catchment in Southern Peninsular India is developed. RRL (Rainfall-Runoff Library), RAP (River Analysis Package) and SCL (Stochastic Climate Library) of eWater toolkit are used for developing this tool. In the decision making, it also incorporates the runoff change prediction portrayed in India’s second national communication to UNFCC. The existing institutional arrangement for water sharing of this sub-catchment is revisited in the light of findings of this study. Paper is concluded by explaining how it is useful in synthesizing a range of options on designing a new water sharing paradigm for this sub-catchment.     

Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Lake Poopo Basin, Bolivia

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a relatively new approach in Bolivia. However, it is now generally accepted that this approach needs to be established in order to find sustainable solutions for development and is actively promoted by the Water Ministry, especially in environmentally fragile regions, such as the Lake Poopo basin. The Lake Poopo basin is one of the poorest regions in the Bolivian Altiplano. It is confronted with severe water scarcity during the dry season, leading to low water quality, a high water-poverty index and low values of the watershed sustainability index. Furthermore, salinization and environmental degradation of soil and water are forcing people to migrate to urban areas. These are some of the factors underlying an ever-increasing complexity in integrated water resources management in the region. This paper proposes and develops a Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) in the Lake Poopo basin, based on economic, social and environmental criteria in an uncertain decision environment in order to support stakeholders in managing their water resources. Saaty’s analytical hierarchy process (AHP) theory is applied here to solve the MCDA and to identify the alternatives using the highest expected utility value. The paper identifies the best solutions for existing conflicts, while promoting interaction with stakeholders and instruments in order to reach a sustainable strategy for water resources management in this water-scarce region.     

Strategic Water Resources Planning: A Case Study of Bangladesh

Many agrarian countries have heavily invested in large-scale water projects to promote their agricultural development. There have been, however, few attempts to devise strategic water resources planning accounting for the macroeconomic linkages ofagriculture. This article presents such a strategic water resourcesplanning framework for Bangladesh. First, a dynamic costminimization model is solved to compute the optimal investmentneeded in various water projects such that an agricultural growthtarget can be met. Next, the minimum cost solution is againderived accounting for the macroeconomic linkages of agriculture,which, under different macroeconomic scenarios, results innoticeably different policy implications for optimal waterplanning. These results suggest that the traditional sectoralapproaches of planning water investment projects are generallyinconsistent with the broader macroeconomic reality of Bangladesh.     

Exploring and Evaluating Scenarios for a River Catchment in Northern Australia Using Scenario Development,Multi-criteria Analysis and a Deliberative Process as a Tool for Water Planning

Water catchments worldwide are experiencing increasing pressure on the quantity and quality of ground and surface water resources. Water managers are increasingly consulting community and stakeholder groups to ensure their decisions reflect the values and preferences of water users. Growing tensions between different water users require the use of techniques that can enable stakeholders to learn about each others’ positions and deliberate about the costs and benefits of alternative water allocation scenarios. This paper describes the use of scenario development, a small group deliberative process (citizens’ jury) and multi-criteria analysis to assist in water planning for the Howard River catchment in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. Water planning processes in the NT are in their infancy. As such, this research provides information about stakeholder preferences where none was previously available and demonstrates the use of a new water planning tool. The research found that the process in this case was most useful in providing information to stakeholders, dispelling some unhelpful myths about water use in the catchment, and coalescing opinion about important criteria for assessing future options.     

A Review of Multiple Criteria Analysis for Water Resource Planning and Management

Multiple criteria analysis (MCA) is a framework for ranking or scoring the overall performance of decision options against multiple objectives. The approach has widespread and growing application in the field of water resource management. This paper reviews 113 published water management MCA studies from 34 countries. It finds that MCA is being heavily used for water policy evaluation, strategic planning and infrastructure selection. A wide range of MCA methods are being used with the fuzzy set analysis, paired comparison and outranking methods being most common. The paper also examines the motivations for adopting MCA in water management problems and considers future research directions. This study was funded by the eWater CRC ().     

A Sustainable Decision Support Framework for Urban Water Management

This paper develops a decision support framework that assists managers in the urban water industry to analyse a mix of water service options, at the whole-of-city scale. The decision support framework moves decision-making in urban water systems from traditional command and control approaches that tend to focus on an outcome at a point in time to a more sustainable, inclusive and dynamic decision-making process driven by social learning and engagement. While available models and evaluation techniques provide valuable input to decision-making, the complex nature of urban water systems requires more than just social and economic criteria to be considered as part of decision support frameworks. The authors believe that current decision support frameworks need to be presented in a way that incorporates adaptive management and integrated urban water management strengths at the strategic and operational level. The inclusion of social learning and engagement is necessary to achieving this end.     

Comparisons of Risk-based Decision Rules for the Application of Water Resources Planning and Management

Water resources planning and management are plagued with various uncertainties in that any chosen management alternative always has the possibility to be inferior to other competing alternatives. To facilitate risk-based decision making, the minimax expected opportunity loss (EOL) rule is applied for alternative selection. Two existing risk measures as well as EOL are compared and their implications in risk-based decision making are examined. It is shown that EOL can reflect more accurately the relative merit of two competing alternatives without suffering the pessimism and the counter-intuition of the other two risk measures considered herein. The minimax EOL rule is demonstrated through an application to a river basin management decision for improving the navigation. The results show that the correlation between outcomes of competing alternatives and decision maker’s acceptable risk are important in decision making under uncertainty.     

实施统一管理是保障水资源可持续利用的战略措施

论述了实施水资源统一管理的理论依据和实现流域统一管理与区域统一管理相结合的对策措施，同时提出了对南水北调工程实施统一管理的设想。     

A Neurofuzzy Decision Framework for the Management of Water Distribution Networks

Among the most important components of sustainable management strategies for water distribution networks is the ability to integrate risk analysis and asset management decision-support systems (DSS), as well as the ability to incorporate in the analysis financial and socio-political parameters that are associated with the networks in study. Presented herein is a neurofuzzy decision-support system for the performance of multi-factored risk-of-failure analysis and pipe asset management, as applied to urban water distribution networks. The study is based on two datasets (one from New York City and the other from the city of Limassol, Cyprus), analytical and numerical methods, and artificial intelligence techniques (artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic) that capture the underlying knowledge and transform the patterns of the network’s behaviour into a knowledge-repository and a DSS.     

Comparison of Compensatory and non-Compensatory Multi Criteria Decision Making Models in Water Resources Strategic Management

Growing water demands as well as inconsistency between water demand and water supply pose new challenges for water resources managers in arid regions. This study examines the strategies to tackle water shortage for a sustainable development in Shahrood, Iran. A contentious plan has been proposed to transfer water from the Caspian Sea in north of Iran to this region. Ensuring sustainable development, however, necessitates a strategic planning for water resources. The study develops all viable strategies for the region using Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Due to inability of the SWOT model to rank the alternatives, the developed strategies are ranked using Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) models based on specified sustainable development criteria. The ranking is implemented using the compensatory models of Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), and the non-compensatory model of ELimination and Choice Translating REality (ELECTRE III). The results of all MCDM models introduce water transfer as the worst strategy for the region. Because of the uncertainty in the relative importance of specified criteria, sensitivity analysis is done for MCDM models by altering the criteria weights. The results show that the ELECTRE III method has lower sensitivity than the SAW and AHP methods to changes in the weights. Also, the compensatory methods exhibits a high dependency to the weights of some dominant criteria. Therefore, this research reveals that the rankings obtained from the ELECTRE III method are more reliable for decision makers to ensure a sustainable development in the region.     

水利规划管理工作的基本思路

通过分析水利规划工作的地位和特点，提出了编制水利规划应遵循的基本原则。结合黄河水利规划实际情况，明确了今后水利规划管理工作的重点，即应抓好规划项目的总体安排、实现规范管理、注重提高成果科技含量和加大投入力度。     

A Multi-criteria Decision-making Optimization Model for Flood Management in Reservoirs

Water Resources Management - Flood management in a reservoir-outlet system is a multi-criterion decision-making (MCDM) issue, in which preventing flood damage and flood overtopping, as well as...     

A Decision Support Methodology for Integrated Urban Water Management in Remote Settlements

This paper describes a decision support methodology for the selection of a wastewater treatment system based on integrated urban water management principles for a remote settlement with failing septic systems. Thirty-two service and treatment technologies options were considered, these included: (i) conventional gravity sewerage, (ii) common effluent drainage, (iii) community sewage treatment plant based on various technology options (lagoon treatment, Living Machine®, sequencing batch reactor, membrane biological reactor, rotating biological contactor, recirculating textile filter, extended aeration) with and without urine separation, greywater diversion or treatment and reuse at household scale. The options were assessed using a framework that considered technical, economic, environmental and social factors relevant to the local community and associated stakeholders (water utility, government agencies) and tools such as engineering design, life cycle assessment and multi-criteria analysis for evaluation of overall sustainability. Adoption of a systems approach allowed the identification of benefits and trade-offs among stakeholders creating opportunities for adoption of more innovative treatment options and maximisation of the sustainability of the service. The treatment option that maximised the social, environmental and economic benefits for the settlement consisted of individual households adopting greywater treatment, storage and reuse, urine separation and a community wastewater treatment plant with recirculating textile filter technology. This solution provided the required sanitation, increased the sources of water supply to residents, satisfied environmental regulator requirements, minimised nitrogen discharge to waterways and provided an option for beneficial reuse of urine for neighbouring farmers at a cost and management needs acceptable to the water utility.     

Using Information-Gap Decision Theory for Water Resources Planning Under Severe Uncertainty

Water resource managers are required to develop comprehensive water resources plans based on severely uncertain information of the effects of climate change on local hydrology and future socio-economic changes on localised demand. In England and Wales, current water resources planning methodologies include a headroom estimation process separate from water resource simulation modelling. This process quantifies uncertainty based on only one point of an assumed range of deviations from the expected climate and projected demand 25 years into the future. This paper utilises an integrated method based on Information-Gap decision theory to quantitatively assess the robustness of various supply side and demand side management options over a broad range of plausible futures. Findings show that beyond the uncertainty range explored with the headroom method, a preference reversal can occur, i.e. some management options that underperform at lower uncertainties, outperform at higher levels of uncertainty. This study also shows that when 50 % or more of the population adopts demand side management, efficiency related measures and innovative options such as rainwater collection can perform equally well or better than some supply side options The additional use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis shifts the focus away from reservoir expansion options, that perform best in regards to water availability, to combined strategies that include innovative demand side management actions of rainwater collection and greywater reuse as well efficiency measures and additional regional transfers. This paper illustrates how an Information-Gap based approach can offer a comprehensive picture of potential supply/demand futures and a rich variety of information to support adaptive management of water systems under severe uncertainty.