A Coupled Allocation for Regional Initial Water Rights in Dalinghe Basin, China

Regional initial water rights is a crucial part of initial water rights and clarification of it is an essential method to improve the efficiency of water use. It also promotes sustainable use of valuable water resources. Consequently, under new circumstances of China’s most stringent water resources management, with water quantity and quality control, we propose a new perspective for a coupled allocation model of regional initial water rights for a typical river basin. Firstly, we design an index system following principles of the “Three Red Lines” considering the real situation of Dalinghe River Basin, China. Then, under the control of total water use, we establish an allocation model of regional initial water quantity rights by the projection pursuit technology. Secondly, under total pollutant discharge control, we established an allocation model of regional initial pollutant discharge rights considering optimized objectives of economy and society. Thirdly, considering both regional initial water quantity rights and the regional pollutant discharge rights above, we provide an incentive function to build a coupled allocation model for regional initial water rights of Dalinghe River Basin. Finally, according to the scenario of the water frequency 50% and planning year 2030, the research finding shows Chaoyang City obtains the largest quantity of regional initial water rights, followed by Jinzhou, Fuxin, Panjin and Huludao, sequentially, which approximately match the pilot plans of China’s Ministry of Water Resources. The empirical research about Dalinghe River Basin further verifies effectiveness of the model in this paper. It also provides scientific decision support for implementing China’s most stringent water resources management for Dalinghe River Basin.