Linking water, society and ecology in a system dynamics framework: case study of Huainan city

The nexus of water, society, and ecology is set to become a hotspot in the coming decades. In this paper, a simple model framework is developed to describe the interactions and feedback of the three categories of components within the regional water system. Taking Huainan City in Anhui Province of China as an example, a model is established with the system dynamics method to discuss its coevolution process. The results show that the development direction of Huainan City is consistent with the planning direction. The comprehensive effectiveness of the policies for developing water-saving technologies, supporting socio-economic development and ensuring food supply could be acceptable. Moreover, the improvements of water-saving technologies for agriculture and domestic water use need to be accelerated. The support for industrial development and the restrictions on pollutant emissions need to be strengthened. Therefore, the model could help decision-makers to understand the status of the water system, modify policies and make further planning. The coevolution of the regional water system is jointly dominated by the positive feedback loop aimed at productivity and the negative one aimed at sustainability.