Multiobjective Allocation of Transboundary Water Resources: Case of the Euphrates and Tigris
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
The allocation of water in a multicountry river system necessarily involves conflicting objectives, where increasing water benefits for one country entails losses for other countries. This paper presents the formulation and application of a multiobjective linear programming model, where each objective represents the benefits for a country from using water for agriculture, urban consumption, and energy production, net of conveyance costs. This model is applied to the Euphrates and Tigris River basin and its three riparian countries—Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. The model is used to delineate the set of nondominated solutions (Pareto frontier), and is extended to include political factors and distributional constraints, leading to an allocation of basin water and resulting benefits.
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Acknowledgments
We thank three referees and the Associate Editor for insightful comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper.
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Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 136 • Issue 1 • January 2010
Pages: 95 - 105
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 5, 2007
Accepted: Jul 24, 2009
Published online: Dec 15, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2010
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