Optimising the allocation of groundwater carrying capacity in a data-scarce region

Abstract

Traditional analysis approaches to water resource carrying capacity cannot be directly applied to data-deficient regions where water resources have been exploited excessively. Gross domestic products (GDPs) also cannot be used directly as objective functions of regional benefits. New objective functions should be established by analysing limited available data and mining useful implied information. Based on the principle of water resource supply-demand balance, a new evaluation criterion of regional benefits is presented using the non-linear regression analysis approach. An analysis model of ground water carrying capacity was then established and is solved with the Lagrange multiplier method. A case study of groundwa ter resource carrying capacity in 2010 and 2015 in the Yaoba Oasis irrigation district, Alxa Left Prefecture, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, was performed. Results demonstrate that the model has the ability of evaluating and determin ing the groundwater resource carrying capacity in this overloaded and data-scarce region.

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