A Fuzzy-Stochastic Modeling Approach for Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis of Coupled Groundwater-Agricultural Systems

The complexity of water resources management increases when decisions about environmental and social issues are considered in addition to economic efficiency. Such complexities are further compounded by multiple uncertainties about the consequences of potential management decisions. In this paper, a new fuzzy-stochastic multiple criteria decision-making approach is proposed for water resources management in which a variety of criteria in terms of economic, environmental and social dimensions are identified and taken into account. The goal is to evaluate multiple conflicting criteria under uncertainties and to rank a set of management alternatives. The methodology uses a simulation-optimization water management model of a strongly interacting groundwater-agriculture system to enumerate criteria based on these bio-physical process interactions. Fuzzy and/or qualitative information regarding the decision-making process for which quantitative data is not available are evaluated in linguistic terms. Afterwards, Monte Carlo simulation is applied to combine these information and to generate a probabilistic decision matrix of management alternatives versus criteria in an uncertain environment. Based on this outcome, total performance values of the management alternatives are calculated using ordered weighted averaging. The proposed approach is applied to a real world example, where excessive groundwater withdrawal from the coastal aquifer for irrigated agriculture has resulted in saltwater intrusion, threatening the economical basis of farmers and associated societal impacts. The analysis has provided potential decision alternatives which can serve as a platform for negotiation and further exploration. Furthermore, sensitivity of different inputs to resulting rankings is investigated. It is found that decision makers’ risk aversion and risk taking attitude may yield different rankings. The presented approach suits to systematically quantify both probabilistic and fuzzy uncertainties associated with complex hydrosystems management.     

A New Integrated MADM Technique Combined with ANP,FTOPSIS and Fuzzy Max-Min Set Method for Evaluating Water Transfer Projects

In sustainable water resources management, it is essential to rank inter-basin water transfer projects. This task is difficult due to many different conflict criteria, complex relations among criteria and various judgments of decision makers. In this paper, an integrated multiple attribute group decision making method consists of ANP (Analytical Network Process), fuzzy TOPSIS and fuzzy max-min set methods is proposed for evaluating water transfer projects. A set of over 60 criteria in social, environmental and economic sectors are used for ranking four water transfer projects in Karun River based on three decision maker judgments. A key novelty of the proposed methodology is its ability to model both complex relations among different criteria in water management and the influence of decision maker judgments’ weights on the final ranking in group decision making problem. The procedure starts by obtaining the priority of water transfer projects and the weight of each decision maker judgments by employing ANP and fuzzy TOPSIS, respectively. These weights are used as inputs in the fuzzy max-min set method. Then the effects of decision maker weights on the final ranking are determined in fuzzy environment. Finally, the sensitivity analysis of decision makers’ weights has been conducted. The results show that the proposed method is an effective tool for group decision making problems by considering different criteria and decision makers’ weights.     

A Compromise Ratio Method with an Application to Water Resources Management: An Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set

Water resources management can be regarded as an iterative process of general decision making considering the applications and modifications of waters and related lands within a geographic region. This process helps decision makers to balance their diverse requirements and applications of water as an environmental resource, and to recognize how their activities can have impacts on the long-term sustainability. This paper introduces a new compromise ratio method based on Atanassov’s intuitionistic fuzzy sets under multiple criteria in real-life situations. Atanassov’s intuitionistic fuzzy weighted averaging (AIFWA) operator is applied to aggregate individual judgments of the decision makers to rate the relative importance of the selected criteria and potential alternatives. Then a new Atanassov’s intuitionistic fuzzy ranking index is proposed to analyze the potential alternatives. Finally, the performance of the proposed fuzzy decision-making method is illustrated to a real water resources management problem from the recent literature. Computational results demonstrate that the presented method can be utilized in a large-scale multi-level assessment process to assist the decision makers the optimal solution among the potential alternatives with multiple conflicting and compromising criteria.     

Planning for Regional Water System Sustainability Through Water Resources Security Assessment Under Uncertainties

A leader-follower relationship in multiple layers of decision makers under uncertainties is a critical challenge associated with water resources security (WRS). To address this problem, a credibility-based chance-constrained hierarchical programming model with WRS assessment is developed for regional water system sustainability planning. This model can deal with the sequential decision-making problem with different goals and preferences, and reflect uncertainties presented as fuzzy sets. The effectiveness of the developed model is demonstrated through a real-world water resources management system in Beijing, China. A leader-follower interactive solution algorithm based on satisfactory degree is utilized to improve computational efficiency. Results show the that: (a) surface water, groundwater, recycled water, and off water would account for 27.01, 27.44, 23.11, and 22.44% of the total water supplies, respectively; (b) the entire pollutant emissions and economic benefits would consequently decrease by 31.53 and 22.88% when the statue changes from quite safe to extremely far from safe; and (c) a high credibility level would correspond to low risks of insufficient water supply and overloaded pollutant emissions, which lowers economic benefits and pollutant emissions. By contrast, a low credibility level would decrease the limitations of constraints, which leads to high economic benefits and pollutant emissions, but system risk would be increased. These findings can aid different decision makers in identifying the desired strategies for regional water resources management under multiple uncertainties, and support the in-depth analysis of the interrelationships among water security, system efficiency, and credibility level.     

Conjunctive Use of Surface and Groundwater with Inter-Basin Transfer Approach: Case Study Piranshahr

Disregarding water as a key sustainable development has led to the water crisis in Iran. This problem is the biggest factor for marginalizing the planning and long-term management of water. The sustainable development policies in water resources management of IRAN require consideration of the different aspects of management that each of them demands the scientific integrated programs. Optimal use of inter-basin surface and groundwater resources and transfer of surplus water to adjacent basins are important from different aspects. The purpose of this study is to develop an efficient optimization model based on inter-basin water resources and restoration of outer-basin water resources. In the proposed model the three different objectives are as follow supplying inter-basin water demand, reducing the amount of water output of the boundary of IRAN and increasing water transfer to adjacent basins (Urmia Lake basin) are considered. In this model, water allocation is done based on consumption and resources priorities and groundwater table level constraints. In this research, the non-dominate sorting genetic algorithm is used for performing the developed model regarding the complexity and nonlinearity of the objectives and the decision variables. The optimal allocation of each water resources and water transfer to adjacent basin can be determined by using of proposed model. Optimal allocation policy presented based on optimal value and planning horizon. The results show that we can transfer considerable volume of water resources within the basin for restoration the outside basin and prevent the great flow of water by the border rivers applying the optimal operation policy.     

不确定性多目标模糊规划在水资源优化配置中的应用

在充分考虑水资源系统中供需水不确定性的基础上,基于多目标规划、模糊规划和区间规划原理,以经济效益、社会效益和环境效益最大为目标,以需水量、可供水量和不同子区用水部门间的用水公平性为主要约束,构建一种适用于多水源、多子区、多用户的考虑供需水不确定性的多目标模糊规划模型,以期通过平衡水资源配置系统中用户配置水量、缺水风险与系统收益三者的关系,实现系统综合效益最大。模型以衡水市历年供水、用水及社会经济等数据确定规划年的水资源参数及经济参数,采用区间参数反映系统中的不确定性,通过引入模糊隶属度函数,利用两步交互式算法,将多目标规划转化为单目标规划进行求解,以2025年为衡水市规划水平年,得到规划水平年下的11个子区、4种水源、4个用水行业的最优配水方案。结果表明：本研究制定的水资源优化配置方案可实现“外调水优先利用、地下水控制利用”,同时考虑用水的公平性约束后,在缺水条件下可有效控制水资源向每立方米水效益高的区域和部门流动,有利于多区域、多部门共担缺水风险;该水资源优化配置方案可有效缓解衡水市水资源供需矛盾,实现多水源和多目标之间的协同互补。研究成果可为河北省其他县域的水资源优化配置提供技术参...     

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for the Purposes of Groundwater Control System Design

The best way for an engineer or scientist to express their knowledge, experience and opinions is day-to-day verbal communication. When a decision needs to be made about an optimal groundwater control system, the decision-making criteria need not always be numerical values. If fuzzy logic is used in multi-criteria decision-making, the criteria are described by linguistic variables that can be represented through fuzzy membership and expert judgment is used to describe such a system. Prior hydrodynamic modeling of the aquifer regime defines the management scenarios for groundwater control and provides an indication of their effectiveness. In this paper, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is applied to deal with a trending decision problem such as the selection of the optimal groundwater management system. Linguistic variables are used to evaluate all the criteria and sub-criteria that influence the final decision and the numerical weights of each alternative are determined by mathematical calculations. The paper presents a part of the algorithm – fuzzy optimization in hydrodynamic analysis, which leads to the selection of the optimal groundwater control system. The proposed method is applied in a real case study of an open-cast mine.     

Optimizing Multiple-Pollutant Waste Load Allocation in Rivers: An Interval Parameter Game Theoretic Model

In this paper, a new methodology is developed for optimal multiple-pollutant waste load allocation (MPWLA) in rivers considering the main existing uncertainties. An interval optimization method is used to solve the MPWLA problem. Different possible scenarios for treatment of pollution loads are defined and corresponding treatment costs are taken into account in an interval parameter optimization model. A QUAL2Kw-based water quality simulation model is developed and calibrated to estimate the concentration of the water quality variables along the river. Two non-cooperative and cooperative multiple-pollutant scenario-based models are proposed for determining waste load allocation policies in rivers. Finally, a new fuzzy interval solution concept for cooperative games, namely, Fuzzy Boundary Interval Variable Least Core (FIVLC), is developed for reallocating the total fuzzy benefit obtained from discharge permit trading among waste load dischargers. The results of applying the proposed methodology to the Zarjub River in Iran illustrate its effectiveness and applicability in multiple-pollutant waste load allocation in rivers.     

Identifying Optimal Water Resources Allocation Strategies through an Interactive Multi-Stage Stochastic Fuzzy Programming Approach

In this study, an interactive multi-stage stochastic fuzzy programming (IMSFP) approach has been developed through incorporating an interactive fuzzy resolution (IFR) method within an inexact multi-stage stochastic programming framework. IMSFP can deal with dual uncertainties expressed as fuzzy boundary intervals that exist in the objective function and the left- and right-hand sides of constraints. Moreover, IMSFP is capable of reflecting dynamics of uncertainties and the related decision processes through constructing a set of representative scenarios within a multi-stage context. A management problem in terms of water resources allocation has been studied to illustrate applicability of the proposed approach. The results indicate that a set of solutions under different feasibility degrees (i.e., risk of constraint violation) has been generated for planning the water resources allocation. They can not only help quantify the relationship between the objective-function value and the risk of violating the constraints, but also enable decision makers (DMs) to identify, in an interactive way, a desired compromise between two factors in conflict: satisfaction degree of the goal and feasibility degree of constraints. Besides, a number of decision alternatives have been generated under different policies for water resources management, which permits in-depth analyses of various policy scenarios that are associated with different levels of economic penalties when the promised water-allocation targets are violated, and thus help DMs to identify desired water-allocation schemes under uncertainty.     

Multiobjective Design of Groundwater Monitoring Network Under Epistemic Uncertainty

A methodology is proposed for optimal design of groundwater quality monitoring networks under epistemic uncertainty. The proposed methodology considers spatiotemporal pollutant concentrations as fuzzy numbers. It incorporates fuzzy ordinary kriging (FOK) within the decision model formulation for spatial estimation of contaminant concentration values. A multiobjective monitoring network design model incorporating the objectives of fuzzy mass estimation error and spatial coverage of the designed network is developed. Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) is used for solving the monitoring network design model. Performances of the proposed model are evaluated for hypothetical illustrative system. Evaluation results indicate that the proposed methodology perform satisfactorily under uncertain system conditions. These performance evaluation results demonstrate the potential applicability of the proposed methodology for optimal groundwater contaminant monitoring network design under epistemic uncertainty.     

水库多目标调度方案优选决策方法

针对水库多目标调度模型生成的众多Pareto可行解,决策者往往面临方案优选决策困难的问题。提出利用可视化展示工具,结合边际效益分析及模糊优选方法,对可行方案进行逐步决策的优选决策方法。结果表明,利用不同的分析工具与决策方法,使众多可行方案得到形象可视化展示的同时,能够融入决策者的主观偏好等信息,得到具有不同决策需求的满意方案。通过不同决策方法的层层决策,逐渐减少备选方案的数量,降低了多目标决策问题的复杂性,为决策者的方案优选提供一定的参考。     

南京市地下水监测站网建设现状及建议

通过调查南京市地下水资源量、开采情况及分布特点,分析相关规划前后地下水监测站网特点和站点布设情况,对规划后南京市地下水监测站网存在的问题进行了详细的剖析并提出了相关意见和建议。结果表明:规划后南京市地下水监测井布设密度得以增加,自动化监测方式得以一定程度的落实,解决了监测方式落后、站点不便管理等问题;规划后,南京市地下水监测站点依然需要在站点布设、监测层位、监测项目、监测方式上增设地下水水位(水质、水温)监测站,以便更好地为地方水行政主管部门开展地下水资源管理提供决策依据和技术支持。     

Extension of Fuzzy Delphi AHP Based on Interval-Valued Fuzzy Sets and its Application in Water Resource Rating Problems

Water resource management problems are complex by nature and are often accompanied by many uncertainties, requiring suitable decision-making tools to solve. If decision makers cannot agree on a method of defining linguistic variables based on the fuzzy sets, favorable results and more accurate modeling can be achieved by using interval-valued fuzzy sets (IVFSs), which provide an additional degree of freedom to represent the uncertainty and fuzziness of the real world. Accordingly, this study is aimed to extend a fuzzy Delphi analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based on IVFSs (Interval-Valued Fuzzy Delphi AHP) and its application to large-scale rating problems related to water resource management. The proposed method is subsequently applied to select an optimal strategy for the rural water supply of Nohoor Village in northeast Iran, as a case study and actual water resource rating problem. According to sensitivity analyses of the results and a comparison of the results with a real project, the proposed method offers good outcomes for water resource rating problems.     

A Nonlinear Interval Model for Water and Waste Load Allocation in River Basins

In this paper, a new methodology is proposed for simultaneous allocation of water and waste load in river basins. A nonlinear interval number optimization model is used to incorporate the uncertainties of model inputs and parameters. In this methodology, the bounds of the uncertain inputs are only required, not necessarily knowing their probability density or fuzzy membership functions. In the proposed model, the existing uncertainties in water demands and monthly available water are considered in the optimization model. Also the economic and environmental impacts of water allocation to the agricultural water users are taken into account. To have an equitable water and waste load allocation, benefits are reallocated to water users using some solution concepts of the cooperative game theory. Results of applying the methodology to the Dez river system in south-western part of Iran show its effectiveness and applicability for water and waste load allocation in an uncertain environment.     

A Framework for Ground Water Management Based on Bayesian Network and MCDM Techniques

Groundwater resources are steadily subjected to increasing water demands. The aquifers are considered as the most accessible source of fresh water. In recent years, they have been faced with severe water withdrawal in arid and semi-arid countries like Iran and thus some aquifers was considered as forbidden aquifers that it means the water withdrawal from these aquifers is unauthorized. Given a critical situation, groundwater resources management in the form of tools such as monitoring the level of the aquifers and developing the restoring scenarios is essential. Therefore, for this purpose, a framework has been developed based on prediction of groundwater level using Bayesian Networks (BNs) model. Furthermore, Multi Criteria Decision Making methods (MCDM) techniques proposed and employed for ranking of proposed groundwater management scenarios. This framework was evaluated for restoring the Birjand aquifer in Iran in different hydrological conditions. A probabilistic Dynamic BN was proposed for groundwater level prediction under uncertainties. After analyzing the obtained results, the applicable short term scenarios for groundwater management as well as appropriate economic, social and technical criteria were defined for decision making procedure. Then, using elicitation of decision makers’ opinions on the relative importance and performance of criteria, SAW, TOPSIS and PROMETHEE-II techniques were applied to rank the scenarios and the obtained results were aggregated by Borda method for final ranking of the scenarios. Lastly, the final results demonstrates the capability of the proposed framework for groundwater resources planning and management which can be employed for reducing the risk of aquifer level declining.     

Water Resources Allocation Using a Cooperative Game with Fuzzy Payoffs and Fuzzy Coalitions

In this paper, two fuzzy cooperative games are utilized for modeling equitable and efficient water allocation among water users in both inter-basin and intra-basin water allocation problems. The proposed all-inclusive water allocation approach consists of three main steps, following Sadegh et al. (Water Resour Manage 24(12):2991?C2310, 2010). In the first step, an initial water allocation is carried out using an optimization model taking into account an equity criterion. In the second step, the water users form crisp coalitions with fuzzy characteristic functions to increase the total net benefit of the system and also their own benefits. In the methodology used in this step, the water users do not need to have exact information about their payoffs and they can evaluate their payoffs as fuzzy numbers. In the second step, based on the Hukuhara difference of fuzzy numbers, optimum water allocation strategies are determined using a game with fuzzy characteristic function. In the third step, we applied another methodology which considers a class of fuzzy games with fuzzy characteristic functions and also fuzzy coalitions for water allocation. The methodology of this step is on the basis of the Hukuhara difference and the Choquet integral. The usefulness of the mentioned methodologies is studied by applying them to three defined real life scenarios in a case study of water allocation in Iran. The results showed that the proposed methodologies are professionally appropriate to real-world uncertain problems of equitable and economic inter-basin and intra-basin water resources allocations.     

Modeling of Water Resources Allocation and Water Quality Management for Supporting Regional Sustainability under Uncertainty in an Arid Region

In this study, a scenario-based interval-stochastic fraticle optimization with Laplace criterion (SISFL) method is developed for sustainable water resources allocation and water quality management (WAQM) under multiple uncertainties. SISFL can tackle uncertainties presented as interval parameters and probability distributions; meanwhile, it can also quantify artificial fuzziness such as risk-averse attitude in a decision-making issue. Besides, it can reflect random scenario occurrence under the supposition of no data available. The developed method is applied to a real case of water resources allocation and water quality management in the Kaidu-kongque River Basin, where encounter serve water deficit and water quality degradation simultaneously in Northwest China. Results of water allocation pattern, pollution mitigation scheme, and system benefit under various scenarios are analyzed. The tradeoff between economic activity and water-environment protection with interval necessity levels and Laplace criterions can support policymakers generating an effective and robust manner associated with risk control for WAQM under multiple uncertainties. These discoveries avail local policymakers gain insight into the capacity planning of water-environment to satisfy the basin’s integrity of socio-economic development and eco-environmental sustainability.     

基于数据驱动的区域水资源智能配置研究

针对目前存在的水资源短缺、水资源利用不合理、水资源配置理论不完善的问题,研究了一种基于数据驱动的区域水资源智能配置方法,以提高区域水资源利用合理度,为区域水资源规划与管理提供技术支持。首先提出由水资源配置决策模型、水资源配置方案评价模型及配置预案库等构成的水资源智能配置模式,其中,水资源配置方案评价模型由基于层次分析-模糊综合评价法的水资源合理配置评价指标体系构建,用于对水资源配置方案进行评价,它一方面对配置方案进行预检验,另一方面为配置决策模型提供配置预案等经验知识;水资源配置决策模型采用人工神经网络在对配置预案库进行学习的基础上建立,用于提供初始配置方案。应用嘉兴市2010年相关数据对该模式的有效性进行了检验,结果表明,在水资源总量不变的情况下,分别考虑嘉兴市整体协调发展和重点发展兼顾整体的两种用水思路,基于数据驱动的水资源智能配置模式均能给出符合预期目标的水资源分配方案,并且具有自适应、容错性、智能化等特征,从而为区域水资源规划与管理提供有效的支撑工具。     

Benefit and Implementation of Groundwater Protection Zoning in South Africa

Groundwater studies in several African countries show that the contamination of water-supply aquifers is mainly due to improper placement of land-based activities such as agriculture, industries, waste disposal. In South Africa, groundwater pollution is also of increasing concern due to fast population growth and accompanying development. Groundwater protection zoning is a supplemental methodology for groundwater management that incorporates land use planning. The land is managed to minimize the potential of groundwater contamination by human activities that occur on or below the land surface. The various benefits associated with implementation of protection zoning are discussed for stakeholders such as communities, water supply companies, ecosystems and policy makers. A South African case study is presented comparing the cost of protection with the cost incurred due to the treatment of sick and dying people due to contaminated drinking water. These benefits must be communicated to the stakeholders to start the implementation at all management levels. Implementation steps of groundwater protection zones are discussed and can be tested even with low budgets and little data available. Monitoring and reassessment of protection zones are important to test the effectiveness and prove to decision makers that the money was well spent. The legal framework for implementation of groundwater protection zoning in a South African context is described, where the water law makes provision for tools like differentiated protection, licensing and recovery of cost. Challenges regarding implementation of groundwater protection are discussed with some action steps on how to move forward.     

基于区间犹豫模糊语言集的水资源多目标决策

以鄂北水资源配置工程为对象,研究大型调水工程背景下的多水源多目标优化配置。将鄂北地区水库分为充蓄水库、补偿水库与在线水库等3类,根据各类水库特点对鄂北水资源配置工程进行系统概化,建立以年缺水量最小和调水成本最低为目标函数的多水源多目标优化配置模型。采用权重系数法进行求解得到非劣解集。最后采用基于区间犹豫模糊语言与TOPSIS的多目标决策方法对各方案的缺水量与调水量作出评价并遴选出最优方案。研究结果表明:对鄂北水资源配置工程而言,缺水量与调水量的权重比为7∶3的方案综合评价最优,重视缺水的同时兼顾调水成本;基于区间犹豫模糊语言集与TOPSIS的水资源多目标决策方法经本文实例验证具有较高的稳定性与可行性。