Simulation and control of the linked systems of water quantity–water quality–socio-economics in the Huaihe River basin

Abstract

Since the 1980s, inappropriate human activities and excessive water-resource exploitation have had a serious impact on the water environment of the Huaihe River basin. Water shortage and water pollution are both important factors restricting local socio-economic development. To demonstrate the interactions between the socio-economic system and the water-resource system, a physically-based hydro-economic model was developed. After division of the basin into sub-regions, a distributed model was developed that describes the combined systems of water quantity–water quality–socio-economics (WQQSE), and simulates ƒthe changing processes of water quantity and water quality from 1991 to 2000. On the basis of this hydro-economic model, an optimal-control model was also developed to research the maximum sustainable socio-economic scale of the river basin by considering hydro-economic interactions, water supply, water quality and socio-economic development constraints. The results demonstrate that the models developed can be used to depict the hydro-economic interaction and to indicate preferable management strategies to meet the development needs of the future. EDITOR D. Koutsoyiannis; ASSOCIATE EDITOR Not assigned