China Tarim River Basin is located in an arid area, whose rapid socioeconomic development intensifies the current water resources shortage. To allocate water resources reasonably, this paper introduces the bankruptcy theory into the cooperative game model to contract a linear function describing the degree of satisfaction of each region’s declared water demand. Bankruptcy theory solves the problem of insufficient information about stakeholders in the cooperative game. From the perspective of the cooperative game’s stability, the bankruptcy allocation stability index (BASI) is used to evaluate and compare water resource allocation results in the Tarim River Basin in 2025 and 2030 under different scenarios. Moreover, this paper uses the improved TOPSIS model to build the harmony index of water-economy-environment (HWEE) to evaluate the harmony of water resources, economy, and environment in each region. The results show that the model is more suitable for the actual water allocation game and has a good application value than the classical bankruptcy theory. Moreover, the stability index and HWEE proposed in this paper also have better applicability, and the allocation scheme with the same game weight in each region is more stable.

In this study, a new methodology is proposed to balance environmental and economic issues in water allocation under uncertainty. Two objective functions, including maximizing economic income (EI) and minimizing environmental pollution (EP), were considered as two groups of players to construct a deterministic multi-objective bargaining methodology (DMOBM). In the next step, it is enhanced to a robust multi-objective bargaining methodology (RMOBM), which is capable of incorporating the main uncertainties exist in the problem. A large-scale inter-basin water transfer case study was utilized to investigate the applicability of the developed model. The outputs of the models showed that Nash equilibrium provide a rather narrow range of solutions. According to the results, the required rounds to reach Nash equilibrium raised as the uncertainty level increased. In addition, higher levels of uncertainty lead to higher reduction in water allocating of receiving basin. Sensitivity analysis showed that economic income values are less sensitive to changes of uncertain parameters than the environmental objective function. The developed methodology could provide a framework to incorporate the behavior of different stakeholders. Furthermore, the proposed method can be reliable under the condition of facing water allocation uncertainties.

This paper develops a multi-objective conflict resolution simulation-optimization model based on a leader-follower game to resolve conflicts between different water users while optimizing water quality in the river through selective depth water withdrawal from the reservoir. Iran Water Resources Management Company (IWRMC), given the nature of the power distribution in this region, is selected as leader, and agricultural, domestic, and industrial water users are selected as followers. Nash-Harsanyi bargaining theory is used as a nested model in this general framework to model competition between followers. The proposed selective withdrawal approach considers four reservoir outlets, located at 120, 145, 163, and 181 m above sea level. Water withdrawal from multiple outlets addresses reservoir thermal stratification and water quality. Temperature and water quality are simulated based on different possible scenarios of reservoir inflow and release using a calibrated CE-QUAL-W2 model. Five artificial neural network (ANN) surrogate/meta models are then trained and validated based on CE-QUAL-W2 model results for each water quality variable. Subsequently, these validated surrogate models are coupled with the NSGA-II optimization model, which along with the utility functions of different stakeholders, constitute the building blocks of our conflict resolution multi-objective optimization model. Finally, three decision-making methods, namely AHP, PROMETHEE, and TOPSIS, are utilized to choose the superior compromise solution. Our results show that water withdrawal from multiple reservoir outlets ensures optimal water allocation to different stakeholders while satisfying the desired water quality criteria. In this study, the top outlet (181 m) has desirable quality, and the IRWQISC water quality criterion at the top and deepest outlets are highest and lowest, respectively.

In this study, an inexact two-stage fuzzy gradient chance-constrained programming (ITSFGP) method is developed and applied to the water resources management in the Heshui River Basin, Jiangxi Province, China. The optimization model is established by incorporating interval programming, two-stage stochastic programming, and fuzzy gradient chance-constrained programming within an optimization framework. The hybrid model can address uncertainties represented as fuzzy sets, probability distributions, and interval numbers. It can effectively tackle the interactions between pre-regulated economic targets and the associated environmental penalties attributed to water allocation schemes and reflect the tradeoffs between economic revenues and system-failure risk. Furthermore, uncertainties associated with the decision makers’ preferences are considered in decision-making processes. The obtained results can provide decision support for the local sustainable economic development and water resources allocation strategies under multiple uncertainties.

Water transfer projects are important for realizing reasonable allocation of water resources, but once a water pollution accident occurs during such a project, the water environment is exposed to enormous risks. Therefore, it is critical to determine an appropriate emergency control system (ECS) for sudden water pollution accidents that occur in water transfer projects. In this study, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) integrated with the coordinated development degree model (CDDM) was used to develop the ECS. This ECS was developed into two parts, including the emergency risk assessment and the emergency control. Feasible emergency control targets and control technology were also proposed for different sudden water pollution accidents. A demonstrative project was conducted in the Fangshui to Puyang channel, which is part of the Beijing–Shijiazhuang Emergency Water Supply Project (BSP) in the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (MR-SNWTP) in China. However, we could not use an actual toxic soluble pollutant to validate our ECS, so we performed the experiment with sucrose to test the ECS based on its concentration variation. The relative error of peak sucrose concentration was less than 20 %.