An Interactive Fuzzy Satisfying Approach for Sustainable Water Management in the Yellow River Delta, China

This paper proposes using an interactive fuzzy satisfying method to solve multi-objective optimization problems in integrated water management of the Yellow River Delta, China. The approach involves economic, social and ecological objectives represented by net returns, water deficiency and ecological water requirements, respectively. It considers the decision-maker’s preferences in terms of fuzzy satisfying of each objective and holistic satisfying of all objectives based on Euclid distance. The method avoids the subjectivity of having decision-makers assigning weights to the multiple objectives to some degree. The method is applied to the Yellow River Delta, China. Results indicate that considerably more water should be allocated to ecological uses of water in the Yellow River than currently occurs. An interactive fuzzy satisfying approach for the multi-objective optimization problems has significant potential in the field of integrated water management. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010