Water resource management based on trade-off analysis of multi-dimensional critical regulation and control indicators

Water resources exist in a large and complex system with multi-dimensional objectives. In this paper, the multi-dimensional nature of water resource systems was analyzed. Then, those indicators were used to set the regulation objective for each dimension and establish an indicator system for use in multi-dimensional critical regulation and control (MCRC). The case of Jiamusi was studied as an example: an MCRC water use model was established and the model was solved to derive Jiamusi's initial water use plan in the target year of 2020. The relationships between the economic benefits produced by water consumption and the groundwater exploitation rate, agricultural water consumption, chemical oxygen demand, and ecological water consumption were analyzed based on this plan: the trade-off among indicators of various dimensions was analyzed to obtain the relationship curves between the regulation indicators of the economic dimension and those of the other dimensions (resource, social, environmental and ecological dimensions). Finally, multi-dimensional regulation was applied to the plan based on the relationship curves from the trade-off analysis, and the best water use plan for the target year was proposed. This study provided a strong basis for setting thresholds for the planning and management of water use in Jiamusi.