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Accounting of Transboundary Ecocompensation Standards Based on Water Quantity Allocation and Water Quality Control Targets

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Abstract

In China, under the premise that the water quantity allocation and water quality control targets for transboundary rivers have been determined, ecocompensation between upstream and downstream areas is urgently needed in management practice when targets cannot be met in the transboundary section. A dynamic accounting method for ecocompensation standards needs to be established at the scientific level. However, the accounting method of the existing ecocompensation standards is not sufficient. The purpose of this study is to propose a transboundary compensation standard accounting method based on water quantity allocation and water quality control targets and to establish ecocompensation standard accounting formulas for the Shaying River watershed. The accounting process is as follows: the water quantity compensation standard in different water quantity scenarios is calculated from the perspective of the water resource value. By using the comprehensive pollution index method, the water quality compensation standard is calculated in different water quality scenarios, and the ecocompensation standard calculation formulas for watersheds are determined. As an application, 27 types of ecocompensation standard formulas for the Shaying River watershed were determined for 3 hydrological frequencies (50%, 75% and 95%), 3 water quantity scenarios (equal-quantity, excess-quantity and reduced-quantity discharging) and 3 water quality levels (equal-quality, inferior-quality and better-quality discharging). The results not only provide a compensation standard for the Shaying River but also provide a reference for the calculation of ecocompensation standards for other transboundary rivers in China with definite water quantity and water quality management objectives.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2017YFA0605004), National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2016YFA0601503) and National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 51725905).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, 1-A Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100038, People’s Republic of China

    Cailian Hao, Denghua Yan, Tianling Qin, Hao Wang & Zhilei Yu

  2. Environmental Science and Engineering Department, Donghua University, 201620, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Mohammed Gedefaw

  3. Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Zhilei Yu

Authors
  1. Cailian Hao
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  2. Denghua Yan
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  3. Mohammed Gedefaw
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  4. Tianling Qin
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  5. Hao Wang
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  6. Zhilei Yu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. DHY and TLQ had the idea for the article. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by CLH, MG and ZLY. The first draft of the manuscript was written by CLH and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tianling Qin.

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Hao, C., Yan, D., Gedefaw, M. et al. Accounting of Transboundary Ecocompensation Standards Based on Water Quantity Allocation and Water Quality Control Targets. Water Resour Manage 35, 1731–1756 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-021-02807-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-021-02807-5

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