ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Reduction of Point Source Pollutant Load:
An Allocation Model for the Watershed TMDL
Program
Hua-Shan Xu1, Zong-Xue Xu2, Hua Zheng1, Zhi-Yun Ouyang1
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1State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
2Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, College of Water Sciences,
Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2015;24(1):359-366
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
An allocation scheme of water pollutant reduction is the key procedure to implement a watershed total
maximum daily load (TMDL) program. In order to improve the equity for the allocation scheme of water pollutant
load reduction, five indexes involved in allocation processes were selected from fields associated with
society, environment, economics, and resources. The weights of these indexes were determined by using fuzzy
optimization and entropy weight methods, and a multi-dimensional Gini coefficient-based allocation model
for watershed point source pollutant load reduction was established. Corresponding constraint conditions were
set to optimize the allocation scheme of point source pollutant load reduction. This model embodies the variability
in importance of various indexes in the allocation process, and improves the equity and scientific basis
of the allocation scheme. It is a reasonably ideal allocation model, and was used to allocate amino nitrogen
load reductions in the Zhangweinan River basin. As validated by the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT)
model, the optimized reduction scheme meets the water quality criteria for the relevant water functional area
in the watershed in various target years. Authors in this paper made great efforts for the reduction allocation
of watershed point source pollutant load in the watershed with intensive anthropogenic activities. The results
provide a scientific basis and technical support for water environmental protection and sustainable uses of
water resources in the Zhangweinan River basin.