A Proposal and Application of the Integrated Benefit Assessment Model for Urban Water Resources Exploitation and Utilization

With increasing diversity in the measures for the exploitation and utilization of urban water resources, an integrated assessment of these methods, social, economic and environmental, has become a pressing necessity so as to maintain a sustainable development. An integrated benefit assessment model (IBAM) for the urban-water-resource-related policies is therefore established on the basis of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). A system of integrated benefit assessment indices (SIBAI), with comprehensive reflections on social, economic and environmental interests, is proposed, guided by the sustainable concept and the cyclic economic philosophy. The IBAM and SIBAI are then applied to such cases as water recycling, seawater desalination, and the South-to-North diversion project, in Tianjin city. The results of the comprehensive assessment of these instances can be a theoretical basis for the planning of the exploitation and utilization of water resources in Tianjin, and the proposed IBAM may be conducive to the sustainable decision-making on water policies for urban areas in general. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009