Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Operating mechanism and set pair analysis model of a sustainable water resources system

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There is no alternative to the world’s water resources, and their increasing scarcity is making it difficult to meet the world population’s water needs. This paper presents a sustainable water resources system (SWRS) and analyzes the operating mechanism that makes it possible to evaluate the status of such a system. A SWRS can be described as a complex coupling system that integrates water resources, social, economic and ecological systems into a whole. The SWRS’s operating mechanism is composed of dynamic, resistance and coordination components, and it interacts with and controls the system’s evolution process. The study introduces a new approach, set pair analysis theory, to measure the state of a SWRS, and an evaluation index system is established using the subsystems and operating mechanism of a SWRS. The evaluation index system is separated into three levels (goal level, criteria level and index level) and divides the index standard into five grades. An evaluation model of the SWRS based on set pair analysis theory is constructed, and an example of SWRS evaluation in Shanghai is presented. The connection degrees of the index in the three levels are calculated, and the connection degree of the goal index is calculated to be 0.342, which classifies the city’s SWRS condition as grade 2. The sustainable use of water resources in the region is determined to be at a relatively adequate level that meets the requirements of sustainable development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Durand J D. Historical estimates of world population: an evaluation. Population and Development Review, 1977, 3(3): 253–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Means E G, West N, Patrick R. Population growth and climate change will pose tough challenges for water utilities. Journal-American Water Works Association, 2005, 97(8): 40–53

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Jun K S, Chung E S, Sung J Y, Lee K S. Development of spatial water resources vulnerability index considering climate change impacts. Science of the Total Environment, 2011, 409(24): 5228–5242

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Wei W, Shi P J, Zhou J J, Feng H C, Wang X F, Wang X P. Environmental suitability evaluation for human settlements in an arid inland river basin: a case study of the Shiyang River Basin. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2013, 23(2): 331–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Morrison J, Morikawa M, Murphy M, Schulte P. Water Scarcity & Climate Change: Growing Risks for Businesses & Investors. A Ceres Report, 2009, 3–6. Available online at http://www.thesapientsolution.com/research/20090525_Water_Scarcity_and_Climate_Change_thesapientsolution.pdf (accessed December 10, 2013)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Brundtland G H. Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987

    Google Scholar 

  7. Feng S Y. the Water Resources System Engineering. Wuhan: Hubei Science and Technology Press, 1991 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Chaturvedi M C, Srivastava D K. Study of a complex water resources system with screening and simulation models. Water Resources Research, 1981, 17(4): 783–794

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Loucks D P. Quantifying trends in system sustainability. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 1997, 42(4): 513–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cocklin C, Blunden G. Sustainability, water resources and regulation. Geoforum, 1998, 29(1): 51–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Wouters P, Rieu-Clarke A. Sustainability criteria for water resource systems. Resources Policy, 2001, 27(2): 139–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Sandoval-Solis S, McKinney D C, Loucks D P. Sustainability index for water resources planning and management. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 2011, 137(5): 381–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Loucks D P. Sustainability Criteria for Water Resource Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999

    Google Scholar 

  14. Xu Z X, Takeuchi K, Ishidaira H, Zhang X W. Sustainability analysis for Yellow River water resources using the system dynamics approach. Water Resources Management, 2002, 16(3): 239–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Fowler H J, Kilsby C G, O’Connell P E. Modeling the impacts of climatic change and variability on the reliability, resilience and vulnerability of a water resource system.Water Resources Research, 2003, 39(8): 1222–1232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Khranovich I L. Stability of functioning of water resource systems. Water Resources, 2007, 34(5): 485–495

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Li Y, Lence B J. Estimating resilience for water resources systems. Water Resources Research, 2007, 43(7) W074227

    Google Scholar 

  18. Yang G, He X L, Li J F. The evaluation method study for water resources sustainable utilization in arid areas. International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications, 2010, 1(4): 359–362

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Shilling F, Khan A, Juricich R, Fong V. Using Indicators to Measure Water Resources Sustainability in California. Cincinnati: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, 2013, 2708-2715

  20. Smith E. Water resources criteria and indicators. Water Resources Update, 2004, 127: 59–67

    Google Scholar 

  21. Wang H M. Theory and Method on Sustainable Development System of Basin. Nanjing: Hohai University Press, 2000 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Melloul A, Collin M. The principal components statistical method as a complementary approach to geochemical methods in water quality factor identification; application to the coastal plain aquifer of Israel. Journal of Hydrology (Amsterdam), 1992, 140(1–4): 49–73

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Tian Y M, Lv X R, Cui Y H. Evaluation of water resources value based on fuzzy comprehensive method. In: International Conference on Energy and Environment Technology (ICEET 2009), Guilin. Guilin: IEEE COMPUTER SOC, 2009, 549–552

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  24. Guo L, Gao X P, Song H F. Study on Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method to Determine Safety Grade of Water Resources. In: Progress in Safety Science and Technology 2006, Changsha. Beijing: Science Press, 2006, 1483–1488

    Google Scholar 

  25. Kingston G B, Lambert M F, Maier H R. Bayesian training of artificial neural networks used for water resources modeling. Water Resources Research, 2005, 41(12): W12409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Zhao K Q. Set Pair Analysis and its Preliminary Application. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Science and Technology Press, 2000, 4–8, 83–88 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Peterson H M, Nieber J L, Kanivetsky R. Water resources sustainability indicator. application of the watershed characteristics approach. Water Resources Management, 2013, 27(5): 1221–1234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Song S B, Cai H J. Assessment methods and indicator systems for sustainable use of regional water resources. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Water-Saving Agriculture and Sustainable Use of Water and Land Resources 2003, Yangling. Yangling: Water Saving Agriculture and Sustainable Use of Water and Land Resources, 2003, 677–682

    Google Scholar 

  29. Wang W S, Jin J L, Ding J, Li Y Q. A new approach to water resources system assessment-set pair analysis method. Science in China Series E: Technological Sciences, 2009, 52(10): 3017–3023

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Srdjevic B. Linking analytic hierarchy process and social choice methods to support group decision-making in water management. Decision Support Systems, 2007, 42(4): 2261–2273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Coyle R G. A Mission-orientated approach to defense planning. Defense Analysis, 1989, 5(4): 353–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Yang X H, Zhang X J, Hu X X, Yang Z F, Li J Q. Nonlinear optimization set pair analysis model (NOSPAM) for assessing water resource renewability. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 2011, 18(5): 599–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography Science and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Chaoyang Du, Jingjie Yu & Dandan Wang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Chaoyang Du & Dandan Wang

  3. Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Huaping Zhong

Authors
  1. Chaoyang Du
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jingjie Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Huaping Zhong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dandan Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jingjie Yu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Du, C., Yu, J., Zhong, H. et al. Operating mechanism and set pair analysis model of a sustainable water resources system. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 9, 288–297 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-014-0642-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-014-0642-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation