DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTUITIVE RIVER-POLLUTION INDEX FOR PRIORITIZING WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES

摘要

This paper describes methodological development of an intuitive river-pollution index (RPI)to allow assessment of priorities for water quality management in a river basin. The proposed RPIimproves upon existing approaches as it is directly linked to water quality criteria and designated wateruses, and reflects the importance of different water uses in a given reach. The RPI ranges from 1 (idealwater quality) to 5 (worst water quality) for various water-use categories. Through this technique, twotypes of RPIs can be generated for a river basin: (a) an RPI for each water-use category and (b) weightedRPI. Following the development of the technique, concepts of plan efficiency index (PEI) and benefit/cost(B/C) ratio are introduced to make comparisons of management plans more intuitive. Applicability of thedeveloped RPI is illustrated by applying to a number of examples. Reasonable results have been obtaineddemonstrating that the proposed RPI is a useful tool for not only rating water quality but also rankingmanagement plans.