Factors used to evaluate alternative options in the course of design and substantiation of feasibility of construction of hydraulic structures

Abstract

Introduction. Reservoirs are important elements of the water resources regulation system; they make a substantial contribution to regional economies. A multi-criterial approach to selection of the best locations for dams is proposed in the absence of exhaustive information on the quantitative assessment of individual criteria. Morphometric characteristics of retaining reservoirs are among the most important tools for analyzing water resources; they represent a quantitative study designated for the mathematical simulation of the most important characteristics of a reservoir and their linking to the indices and parameters that allow to find out the hydrological conditions. The purpose of the study is to select and rank the factors needed to determine the priority locations for the construction of hydraulic structures. Materials and methods. A critical analysis of the research works is carried out; the hydrological, geological, topographical aspects and land use factors are reasonably selected, which allow to propose a hierarchical decision-making model for prioritizing areas where hydraulic structures can be designed. Results. AHP-TOPSIS, a hybrid method of the multicriterial analysis, was used. A reasonable choice of parameters and other factors is necessary to make decisions needed to determine the best area that will accommodate construction works, since it will reduce the amount of pre-project work in a particular region. The reservoir, whose parameters and coefficients are studied, will be thoroughly explored with a focus on its hydrology, topography, geology, and terrain use. The municipality of Manicaragua, belonging to the province of Villa Clara, Cuba, is considered as a case of the practical application of this approach. Based on the information provided by the geographic information systems and the hybrid method of the multi-criterial analysis, a pairwise comparison of alternatives for each of the established parameters was performed, the weights of alternatives were obtained, and the order of prioritization of the areas that can accommodate hydraulic structures was established. Conclusions. The analysis of the priority areas, made on the basis of the selected parameters used as the criteria and alternatives, allowed us (1) to analyze 12,591 districts of the municipality of Manicaragua as the potential locations of hydraulic structures, and (2) to reduce their number to 23 %.