Optimal Water Resource Allocation in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas

Abstract

Areas of water shortage comprise many smaller sub-areas into which water is transported from external sources. Fairness and efficiency of distribution are overriding principles. Each local area requires adequate water for community and ecological purposes as well as a supply sufficient to maximise economic growth. Within arid and semi-arid areas, there are conflicts between the sub-areas and between these three types of water use, which can erupt into violent confrontations between different user groups. This study has developed a dynamic model for equitable distribution of water in water-shortage areas and aims to optimally satisfy the requirements of each locality, given limited supplies, and to maximise the total economic benefit of the entire area. The Heihe River Basin in northwest China was chosen as the area for the pilot study.

Evolution of the vegetation system in the Heihe River basin in the last 2000 years

“…However, vegetation in the lower reaches did not show synchronous development. Obviously, overuse of water in the middle reaches was the primary contributor, which is consistent with the existing literature (Nian et al, 2017;Zhao et al, 2016;Cheng, 2002;Wang et al, 2007).…”

Optimizing Water Allocation under Uncertain System Conditions in Alfeios River Basin (Greece), Part A: Two-Stage Stochastic Programming Model with Deterministic Boundary Intervals

“…Different water allocation targets are related not only to different policies for water resources management, but also to different economic implications (probabilistic penalty and opportunity loss). The objective problem is structured as in Models (3) and (4). The mathematical formulation of the optimization problem is presented thoroughly in the second paper [44] of this work, which describes and analyzes the FBISP programming method as proposed by [1].…”

“…As the human population continues to grow, water conflicts due to inadequate access and the inappropriate management of scarce freshwater resources force new approaches to long-term water planning and management that incorporate the principles of sustainability and equity [1][2][3]. The basic principles for the allocation of water resources are efficiency, equity and sustainability with the aims of pursuing the maximum benefit for society, the environment and the economy, whilst maintaining fair allocation among regions and people [4].…”

Permanently protected agricultural land and the location of water sources suitable for irrigation

“…Pri razvoju algoritmov alokacije vode avtorji privzemajo različne pristope, na primer hidrološko-agronomsko-ekonomskega (Cai et al, 2003), ekonomsko-tehničnega (Jenkins et al, 2004;George et al, 2010aGeorge et al, , 2010b, temelječega na tržno zasnovanih mehanizmih (Crase et al, 2004;Johansson et al, 2002), participatorno upravljanje vodnih območij (Lemos et al, 2004), produktivnost rabe vode (Molden et al, 2003) ter pravičnost in učinkovitost razporejanja vode (Wang et al, 2007). Algoritmi alokacije so lahko uporabna podpora odločanju, tako v primerih, ko imamo obilo vodnih virov, kot takrat, ko so vodni viri za rabo izjemno omejeni.…”