Application of Set Pair Analysis in a Comprehensive Evaluation of Water Resource Assets: A Case Study of Wuhan City, China

With the rapid development of the social economy, China is suffering from severe water scarcity due to improper management. Evaluation of water resource value is a crucial issue for innovative management in regional water resources. In this paper, in consideration of the complexity and uncertainty o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jingdong Zhang, Yanan Li, Chaoyang Liu, Zhiguang Qu, Fei Li, Zhaofei Yang, Luping Jiang, Jiatian Fu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-08-01
Series:Water
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/8/1718
Description
Summary:With the rapid development of the social economy, China is suffering from severe water scarcity due to improper management. Evaluation of water resource value is a crucial issue for innovative management in regional water resources. In this paper, in consideration of the complexity and uncertainty of water resources, 15 indicators were selected to establish the assessment system for its value in Wuhan City from the following three aspects, namely the environment, resources, and society. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Entropy Weight Method were combined to calculate the comprehensive weight. An improved set pair analysis (SPA) model was applied to evaluate water resource assets in the period of 2013−2017. For the sake of the dependability of these results, the James Pollution Loss model was utilized to compute loss of water resource value caused by the decline of water quality in the water pollution environment. The results show that the amount of water resource through physical quantitative accounting in Wuhan City fluctuates greatly. The initial change is relatively stable, then surges in 2015 and 2016, but slumps in 2017. The total water resource assets for Wuhan City from 2013 to 2017 are 14.221, 14.833, 28.375, 75.558, and 21.315 billion RMB, respectively. Therefore, water resource value accounting plays an indispensable role in the environmental protection and sustainable development of water, as well as provides a support for comprehensive calculation and management of various valuable natural resources.
ISSN:2073-4441