Abstract
The existing methods of river evaluation tend to focus exclusively on water quantity; therefore, they do not provide a suitable methodology for integrated water management. In this study, research was carried out to develop an integrated river evaluation system that can simultaneously consider water quantity and water quality to improve the existing river evaluation methods. To this end, specific indicators were established to evaluate water quantity and water quality; moreover, an integrated evaluation formula was developed to express each indicator as an index. The integrated evaluation formula used additive functions and enabled integrated and comprehensive river evaluation through the sum of each indicator’s indices. The research subjects were rivers in the Paldang watershed, which surrounds important water resources in rep. of Korea. The rivers were analyzed using the study’s integrated river evaluation formula to identify the deteriorated grade of the water quality as well as the water quantity. Finally, the results of the integrated river evaluation rating were found to be poor or very poor. Based on this, the study determined that an integrated river management policy is required to simultaneously consider water quantity and water quality to restore the integrity of the rivers in the Special Countermeasures Area. The existing evaluations of rivers, which had been conducted only with a focus on water quantity, could be judged narrow or incomplete results. Based on this finding, it was also possible to identify an urgent need for a basic river management plan that can consider both water quantity and water quality organically. Ultimately, the study demonstrated that its methodology was able to make highly intuitive judgments about rivers’ current conditions; thus, it can be utilized to generate basic data for the establishment of customized river management policies.
Highlights
Water and land resources are highly vulnerable and they exist within an organic relationship with significant mutual influence
The index by the river for the water quantity sector was evenly distributed based on the average value of 0.2916
An integrated evaluation system for assessing water quantity and water quality can identify the current conditions of rivers, reveal vulnerable sectors, and help policy-makers formulate plans for them
Summary
Water and land resources are highly vulnerable and they exist within an organic relationship with significant mutual influence. To properly manage these vulnerable resources, adequate water availability, food supply, and sustainability of public health must be ensured [1]. Water is an essential resource needed to sustain the life of animals and plants. Water 2020, 12, 2346 water management policies in accordance with current needs as well as establishing and implementing water management policies. The need for Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) to ensure water quality became more urgent in the 1970s due to an increased interest in water quality
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