Search Results (6)

Water resources are fundamental to sustaining life, fostering social development, and maintaining ecological balance. This study focuses on Anhui Province (AP) as the research area, employing 22 indicators from the Water-Socio-Ecological (WSE) framework for the water resource-water environment carrying capacity (WR-WECC) of AP. The WR-WECC of AP is assessed via differential evolution projection pursuit modeling (DE-PPM). Additionally, the degree of coupled coordination model (DCCM) is utilized to analyze the coordinated development among the municipalities of AP, whereas the obstacle degree model is employed to identify the primary obstacles affecting the enhancement of the WR-WECC and to forecast them via autoregressive composite moving averages. The findings of the study are as follows: (1) WR-WECC in AP showed a steady upward trend, and the water, socio-economic, and ecological subsystems showed a fluctuating upward trend, with ES increasing the fastest. The overall WR-WECC of each city shows a fluctuating upward trend, and the spatial gap narrows, with Southern Anhui (SA) > Central Anhui (CA) > Northern Anhui (NA). (2) The DCC of the WSE carrying capacity of AP also shows a fluctuating upward trend, gradually transitioning from barely coordinated to well coordinated. The DCC level of the WR-WECC in SA is better than that in CA and NA, and the growth rate is greater than that in CA and NA, whereas the DCC level in CA is better than that in NA, and the DCCs of the three major regions show an upward trend. (3) The degree of obstruction at the criterion level of AP’s WR-WECC basically maintains the following order: WS > SS > ES. In the indicator layer, the water supply modulus, water production modulus, and proportion of tertiary industry are the main obstacle factors restricting the enhancement of the WR-WECC of AP. (4) The prediction results for 2025–2040 indicated that the WR-WECC level and the three subsystem levels of AP showed a continuous increasing trend. Measuring WR-WECC plays a crucial role in regional sustainable development. Full article

Systematic evaluation of water environment carrying capacity (WECC) is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development, which reflects the water environment comprehensive condition of lake basin under the current economic development scenario. Therefore, taking the Taihu Basin as a case study, a scientific comprehensive evaluation index system of WECC was established based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) assessment framework, which included water resources (WR), pollution emission (PE), water quality (WQ), water ecology (WE), and land use (LU) sub-systems. An expert group was invited to determine the weights of each indicator using the group analytic hierarchy process (G-AHP) method, and the indicators in the WR, PE, WQ, WE, and LU sub-systems were 6.5%, 21.8%, 27.9%, 11.1%, and 32.9%, respectively. According to the evaluation results, the WECC index of Taihu Basin increased by 51.4% from 2007 to 2019, but it still slightly exceeded the carrying capacity of the water environment; the water quality and pollution discharge indices had the most significant improvement. Algal blooms are a major factor challenging WECC in the Taihu Basin. Therefore, the overall restoration of the water eco-system must receive more attention in the future. Full article

The upward trajectory of urbanization, coupled with the ever-growing demand for more water resources, has led to increased pressure on limited water resources, particularly in cities with dry climates such as Tehran. Since the balance of Tehran’s water ecosystems has been disturbed, and the quality and quantity of water resources have been affected in recent years, conducting an assessment of water environment carrying capacity (WECC) seemed vital for this city. WECC was used as the basis of water supply sustainability evaluation concerning Tehran’s land use and demographic characteristics on a neighborhood scale. Therefore, the effect size and correlation of 12 types of land use and six variables derived from the literature with water consumption patterns were examined in warm and cold seasons. The results show that land use, population density, percentage of deteriorated area, percentage of buildings over 30 years old, residential–commercial land use, and green spaces correlate significantly with water consumption. The percentage of deteriorated areas and buildings over 30 years old has a negative, and the rest has a positive impact on water consumption. It is also recommended to use the research findings to improve Tehran’s water environment carrying capacity and apply the proposed evaluation procedure to other cities. The results of this research can be used in planning large and densely populated cities with a neighborhood-oriented approach, in which local institutions play an essential role in attracting people’s participation and inclusive urban planning. Full article

China has experienced an unparalleled urbanization process in recent decades, which has dramatically changed the water environment. Quantification of the water environment carrying capacity (WECC) is crucial given its importance to sustainable development. Existing studies have typically focused on the overall WECC system and lacked analysis of its internal features. In this study, the concepts, calculations, and classifications of the WECC were further developed. Using Nanjing, China, as a case study, we developed a hierarchical evaluation indicator system including three system layers (social, environmental and economic subsystems). We applied the entropy weight and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to evaluate the temporal variation tendency of WECC, and explored the deep-seated problems stemming from urbanization. The results indicated that WECC in Nanjing was 0.3045–0.5302 during 2006–2017, thus approaching a moderate grade with a relatively slow growth rate. Social, environmental, and economic subsystems increased by 29.3%, 83.1%, and 97.2%, respectively. Overall, Nanjing had a solid foundation regarding its economic subsystem, but its social and environmental subsystems were under pressure. Factors such as slow population growth as well as reduced energy and water use intensity improved WECC, whereas factors such as increased population density and excessive water consumption blocked WECC. Practical suggestions were proposed to resolve the primary problems of the WECC under urbanization. This holistic approach is urgently needed to achieve water environmental sustainability, both for Nanjing and for other emerging cities. Full article

Water environment carrying capacity (WECC) is an effective indicator that can help resolve the contradiction between social and economic development and water environment pollution. Considering the complexity of the water environment and socioeconomic systems in Northeast China, this study establishes an evaluation index system and a system dynamics (SD) model of WECC in Fushun City, Liaoning, China, through the combination of the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and SD. In consideration of the uncertainty of the future development of society, the Monte Carlo and scenario analysis methods are used to simulate the WECC of Fushun City. Results show that if the current social development mode is maintained, then the WECC in Fushun will have a slow improvement in the future, and a “general” carrying state with a WECC index of 0.566 in 2025 will be developed. Moreover, focusing on economic development (Scheme 1 with a WECC index of [0.22, 0.45] in 2025) or environmental protection (Scheme 2 with a WECC index of [0.48, 0.68] in 2025) cannot effectively improve the local water environment. Only by combining the two coordinated development modes (Scheme 3) can WECC be significantly improved and achieve “general” or “good” carrying state with a WECC index of [0.59, 0.79]. An important development of this study is that the probability of each scheme’s realization can be calculated after different schemes are formulated. In turn, the feasibility of the scheme will be evaluated after knowing the probability, so as to determine the path suitable for local development. This is of great significance for future urban planning. Full article

Scientifically assessing the environmental carrying capacity (ECC) based on an evaluation of environmental quality standards (EQSs) holds great significance for establishing a long-term monitoring and early warning mechanism for resources and environmental carrying capacity (RECC) and for coordinating the sustainable development of ecological environments and regional economies. However, it remains unclear whether the evaluation of EQSs based on the short board effect is suitable for environmental assessments under different natural environments. In this research, Xinjiang is used as a case study. Based on the evaluation of EQSs, the atmospheric environmental carrying capacity (AECC), water environmental carrying capacity (WECC) and comprehensive environmental carrying capacity (CECC) are assessed using the short board effect and the weighted average. Additionally, the suitability of ECC evaluation in RECC evaluation is discussed. The results show the following: (1) In the atmosphere, the overload of inhalable particles (PM₁₀) and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is more serious, while in water, the overload of total nitrogen (TN) is more serious. (2) The percentages of the AECC, WECC and CECC in overloaded counties and cities based on the short board effect are 84%, 45%, and 51%, respectively, while the percentages based on the weighted average are 32%, 6% and 7%, respectively. (3) The extreme effects of a single pollutant can be eliminated by the weighted average, which is more suitable for environmental assessments in Xinjiang. (4) In evaluating RECC monitoring and early warning systems, weighted average evaluation is used to assess the elements, and short board effect evaluation is used in the comprehensive integration to prevent the influence of the amplification of a single index. Thus, the interference of non-key factors in the regional system on the final evaluation results is reduced. Full article