Optimization of water allocation based on the economic loss analysis under different drought scenarios

Abstract

Drought has become a great constraint in the process of sustainable development of human society and China is one of the countries frequently affected by severe droughts. Thus, along with research on the drought prediction and prevention, it is of key importance to study how to reasonably allocate the limited water resources during drought. When drought occurs, there is a struggle for water among various users. The main objective of this study is to define an appropriate proportion of water to be distributed between industry and agriculture in order to avoid heavy economic losses when suffering the emergency drought. So, we designed a simple algorithm to account for economic losses and on that basis to choose the optimum scheme of water allocation under different drought scenarios.