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A framework for sustainability analysis in water resources management and application to the Syr Darya Basin
Author(s) -
Cai Ximing,
McKinney Daene C.,
Lasdon Leon S.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2001wr000214
Subject(s) - sustainability , water resource management , water resources , water conservation , environmental science , water supply , context (archaeology) , drainage basin , structural basin , equity (law) , water balance , scenario analysis , environmental resource management , environmental planning , business , environmental engineering , engineering , geography , geology , ecology , cartography , geotechnical engineering , biology , paleontology , archaeology , finance , political science , law
Sustainable water management in irrigation‐dominated river basins attempts to ensure a long‐term, stable, and flexible water supply to meet crop water demands, as well as growing municipal and industrial water demands, while mitigating negative environmental consequences. To achieve this delicate balance, new models are needed which can use indicators of sustainability to guide the decision‐making process. This paper presents a new long‐term modeling framework which uses quantified sustainability criteria in a long‐term optimization model of a basin, ensuring risk minimization in water supply, environmental conservation, equity in water allocation, and economic efficiency in water infrastructure development. “Current” and “future” water supply and demand are combined into a coherent system which takes account of the cumulative effects of short‐term water use decisions and deals with the tradeoffs between the benefits of current and future generations. The modeling framework is demonstrated with an application to the Syr Darya River Basin of central Asia. Model results show the effectiveness of this tool for policy analysis in the context of the river basin.