Optimal allocation of regional water resources in an arid basin: insights from Integrated Water Resources Management

Abstract

Abstract Viewing water management as a multifaceted issue is critical to achieving sustainable water management. This paper proposes an integrated optimal allocation model for aquifer sustainability and environmental benefits when managing conjunctive water resources. Optimization techniques such as genetic algorithm (GA) and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) are used to balance economic benefit and demand management based on decision makers’ preferences. The findings indicate that less water was allocated to industries with high water demand. The value of the allocated water to these industries is between 34 and 52%. Thus, it concluded that specific industries are unsustainable when environmental damage is considered. From the scenarios examined, scenario 10 (water resource conditions and water demands are determined based on existing conditions, considering domestic water management and aquifer restoration) was found to be the optimal water management scenario. The indicators of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) for this scenario are 0.30, 0.15, 190, 40.9, and 0.55 for relative water stress, aquifer sustainability, aquifer attenuation period, aquifer recovery potential, and agricultural water productivity, respectively. This finding implies that considering demand management, wastewater treatment, and the absence of industrial development in development scenarios, it will be possible to conserve aquifers and meet water demands.