Update of river health assessment indicator system, weight, and assignment criteria in China

Abstract

Comprehensive assessment of river health is challenging due to the diversity of rivers, the complexity of their ecosystem and functional service. This paper updates the river health assessment indicator system, weight, and assignment criteria in China by reviewing and examining the peer-reviewed literature. We propose an indicator system, weight, and criteria, validated by nine case studies and able to assess the country-scale river health. Our analysis shows that the rule layer of indicator system includes hydrology, water quality, aquatic organism, physical habitats, and functional service; its corresponding weights are set to 0.15, 0.21, 0.18, 0.22, and 0.24, respectively. The ten most representative indicators are selected that incorporates the indicator layer with their corresponding weights. The evaluation based on case studies shows that in eight out of nine cases, our results are consistent with those obtained in previous studies. Therefore, the suggested index system, weight, and three-assessment criteria are well suited for the complex cases in China. This paper can serve as a reference for a river health assessment and present a comprehensive listing of assessment criteria.