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Basin-Wide Initial Water Rights Allocation Model Considering Both the Quantity and Quality of Water

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Abstract

Allocating initial water rights is a prerequisite for implementing water rights trading and enhancing the water use efficiency. This paper investigates the establishment of a model for allocating basin-wide initial water rights considering both the quantity and quality of water. First, a new concept, two-dimensional water rights, is presented and described in the paper. Second, the initial water rights allocation model, which maximizes the harmonious degree of an entire water system, is developed based on five principles: (1) the basic water demands, (2) fairness, (3) respect for the status quo, (4) economic efficiency, and (5) the unification of water withdrawals and sewage discharge. Third, the proposed model is applied to the Beijiang River Basin in southern China, and the model validity and reasonability of the presented two-dimensional water rights allocation scheme are verified via comparisons with other allocation patterns. Finally, several conclusions are presented.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Funding

This research was supported financially by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC0408005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51579064), and the Provincial Water Conservancy Research Program (SDSLKY201809).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Zongzhi Wang, Liang Cheng & Kelin Liu

  2. School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Lingling Zhang

  3. School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Y-Ming Wei

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  1. Zongzhi Wang
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  2. Lingling Zhang
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  3. Liang Cheng
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  4. Kelin Liu
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Correspondence to Zongzhi Wang or Lingling Zhang.

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Wang, Z., Zhang, L., Cheng, L. et al. Basin-Wide Initial Water Rights Allocation Model Considering Both the Quantity and Quality of Water. Environ Model Assess 25, 581–589 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-020-09709-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-020-09709-7

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