Water resources optimal allocation model for coordinating regional multi-level water resources managers’ interests

Abstract

In water resources management on a global scale, it is important to reconcile the conflicting interests of different regions and actors regarding water use. To solve this issue more effectively, an optimal allocation model of water resources that coordinates the interests of regional multi-level water resource managers and balances the benefits acquired by regional multi-level water resource managers was proposed. The model consisted of three components, including option generation, option selection, and fallback bargaining. The Hybrid Strategy Whale Optimization Algorithm (HSWOA) was created to generate the initial alternative set throughout the alternative generation process. In the alternative screening process, quick non-dominated sorting was used to choose Pareto alternatives from the initial alternative set. Through many rounds of negotiations, water resource managers at all levels reached a consensual water resource allocation plan during fallback bargaining. This model was used to reconcile the conflicting water interests of municipal and county water managers in Handan, China, in terms of economic, social, and ecological benefits. It was also compared with the Pareto solution set obtained from NSGA-III. In terms of convergence speed and accuracy, the results demonstrated that HSWOA outperformed the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA). The results show that several rounds of discussions between municipal and county water management eventually resulted in Nash equilibrium. In normal flow year, the recommended scheme could yield economic benefit of 315.08×108 Yuan, social benefit of 0.1700, and ecological benefit of 5.70 × 106 m3, whereas in low flow year, the recommended scheme could yield economic benefit of 354.85×108 Yuan, social benefit of 0.2103, and ecological benefit of 57.82 × 106 m3. Compared to existing studies, the recommended scheme has clear advantages in terms of social and ecological benefits. The proposed optimal water resource allocation was Pareto optimal. This paper presented a new way of thinking about reconciling the conflicting interests of different levels of water resource managers in the process of water allocation.