An inexact programming approach for supporting ecologically sustainable water supply with the consideration of uncertain water demand by ecosystems

Abstract

This paper presents the development and the first application of an inexact quadratic programming (IQP) approach for sustainable water supply under multiple uncertainties. The developed IQP improves conventional nonlinear programming by tackling multiple uncertainties within an individual parameter; IQP is also superior to existing inexact methods due to its reflection of economies of scale and reduction of computational requirements. An interactive solution algorithm with high computational efficiency was also proposed. The application of IQP to long-term planning of a multi-source multi-sector water supply system demonstrated its applicability. The close reflection of system complexities, such as multiple uncertainties, scale economies and dynamic parameters, could enhance the robustness of the optimization process as well as the acceptability of obtained results. Corresponding to varied system conditions and decision priorities, the interval solutions from IQP could help generate a series of long-term water supply strategies under a number of economic, environmental, ecological, and water-security targets.

A Generalized Interval Fuzzy Chance-Constrained Programming Method for Domestic Wastewater Management Under Uncertainty – A Case Study of Kunming, China

“…In addition, many domestic wastewater system parameters such as wastewater generation rates, capacity of WTPs, lake nutrient emission permits, and eco-environmental water requirements of urban rivers, may appear uncertain in multiple forms that can be expressed as fuzzy sets, probability density functions, and intervals (Cabanillas et al 2012;Chang and Hernandez 2008). Furthermore, such multiple forms of uncertainties may be further multiplied by the site-specific features of many system components, factors, and parameters (Cai et al 2011). These multi-form uncertainties have raised concerns in the wastewater management system.…”

Optimal Use of Agricultural Water and Land Resources through Reconfiguring Crop Planting Structure under Socioeconomic and Ecological Objectives

“…Such articulation of preferences and priorities are uncertain in nature without precise boundaries, which can usually be modeled as fuzzy membership grades. As well, many parameters which are of significance for the success of modeling efforts, such as crop water demand and water availability, are hard to be known as deterministic values due to natural variability and measuring limitations [22][23][24][25][26]. The incapability of previous multi-objective programming models in reflecting uncertainties would lead to significant risks of system violation.…”

A dual-inexact fuzzy stochastic model for water resources management and non-point source pollution mitigation under multiple uncertainties

“…Moreover, subjective judgments obtained from experts and stakeholders also exert significant impacts on data acquisition and system reliability. These complexities lead to the difficulties in solving the resulted uncertain optimization problems (Azaiez et al, 2005;Sethi et al, 2006;Tan et al, 2011;Bender and Simonovic, 2000;Guo et al, 2010;Qin et al, 2007;Lu et al, 2012;Huang et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2009;Gu et al, 2013;Dessai and Hulme, 2007;Cai et al, 2011Cai et al, , 2012Li et al, 2013). Nowadays, the stochastic linear programming (SLP) and interval linear programming (ILP) have become two of the most effective optimization approaches, especially the chance-constraints programming (CCP).…”