Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Evaluation and empirical study of Happy River on the basis of AHP: a case study of Shaoxing City (Zhejiang, China)

Dong Xu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9111-1245 A * , Dongfeng Zhu B , Youhua Deng C , Qirui Sun A , Junzhe Ma A and Fang Liu A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Geomatics and Municipal Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou, 310018, PR China.

B Zhejiang Institute of Standardization, Hangzhou, 310018, PR China.

C Quzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecological and Environment Intelligent Manufacturing City Branch, Quzhou, 324000, PR China.

* Correspondence to: xud@zjweu.edu.cn

Handling Editor: Wan Zhanhong

Marine and Freshwater Research - https://doi.org/10.1071/MF22196
Submitted: 20 September 2022  Accepted: 2 February 2023   Published online: 1 March 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context: ‘Happy River’ is a new goal of river management in the new era of China.

Aims: To quantitatively evaluate the status of ‘Happy River’.

Methods: The evaluation model of ‘Happy River Index’ was established in this study through the analytic hierarchy process according to the three levels of ‘objective–criterion–index’. The criterion layer includes the following five parts (including weights): water protection (0.25), ecological construction (0.22), landscape aesthetics (0.20), water culture (0.18) and social functions (0.15); three to six indicators are set under each criterion layer as the index layer. On the basis of this, the main rivers in six regions of Shaoxing City were evaluated and the scores calculated comprehensively.

Key results: The results showed that the total scores of Shangyu District, Yuecheng District and Xinchang County were 89, 87 and 85 respectively, indicating that the rivers are in a very good state; the total scores of Zhuji City, Shengzhou City and Keqiao District were 82, 80 and 75 respectively, indicating that the state of rivers is relatively poor compared to the first three regions.

Conclusions: The follow-up work can be promoted from the aspects of ecological construction, water culture construction, water protection and social functions.

Implications: The established model and empirical study have provided a theoretical basis and data basis for the comprehensive evaluation of modern rivers.

Keywords: AHP, analytic hierarchy process, ecological construction, evaluation indicator, Happy River Index, landscape aesthetics, social functions, urban river, water culture, water protection.


References

Bourne, CM, Kehler, DG, Wiersma, YF, and Cote, D (2011). Barriers to fish passage and barriers to fish passage assessments: the impact of assessment methods and assumptions on barrier identification and quantification of watershed connectivity. Aquatic Ecology 45, 389–403.
Barriers to fish passage and barriers to fish passage assessments: the impact of assessment methods and assumptions on barrier identification and quantification of watershed connectivity.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Fang, C, Wang, Z, and Liu, H (2020). Beautiful China Initiative: human–nature harmony theory, evaluation index system and application. Journal of Geographical Sciences 30, 691–704.
Beautiful China Initiative: human–nature harmony theory, evaluation index system and application.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Gong, L, and Jin, C (2009). Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation for carrying capacity of regional water resources. Water Resources Management 23, 2505–2513.
Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation for carrying capacity of regional water resources.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

He HX, Niu CW, Zhou ZH, Wang H, Yang ZH, Xie XM (2016) Application of watershed distributed water quality model for prediction and assessment in Nen River Basin. In ‘International conference on environment, climate change and sustainable development’, 28–29 May 2016, Beijing, PR China. (Destech Publications, Inc: Lancaster, PA, USA) https://doi.org/10.12783/dteees/eccsd2016/5809

Jin, X, Jin, Y, and Mao, X (2019). Ecological risk assessment of cities on the Tibetan Plateau based on land use/land cover changes – case study of Delingha City. Ecological Indicators 101, 185–191.
Ecological risk assessment of cities on the Tibetan Plateau based on land use/land cover changes – case study of Delingha City.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Karadogan A, Bascetin A, Kahriman A, Gorgun S (2001) A new approach in selection of underground mining method. In ‘Proceedings of the international conference: modern management of mine producing, geology and environment protection’. pp. 171–183. (Ministry of Environment and Water, Republic of Bulgaria: Varna, Bulgaria)

Liao, R, Hu, J, Li, Y, and Li, S (2020). Phosphorus transport in riverbed sediments and related adsorption and desorption characteristics in the Beiyun River, China. Environmental Pollution 266, 115153.
Phosphorus transport in riverbed sediments and related adsorption and desorption characteristics in the Beiyun River, China.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Lin QC, Li HE (2010) Estimation and guarantee measures of ecological basic flow in Weihe River. In ‘2010 4th international conference on bioinformatics and biomedical engineering’, 18–20 June 2010, Chengdu, PR China. INSPEC Accession Number: 11495804. (IEEE: New York, NY, USA) https://doi.org/10.1109/ICBBE.2010.5515454

Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China (2002) National standard of the People’s Republic of China: GB 3838-2002. Environmental quality standard for surface water. (General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, PR China) Available at https://www.chinesestandard.net/PDF.aspx/GB3838-2002

Mu, Y, and Shen, W (2022). Mathematical problems in engineering landscape ecological security assessment and ecological pattern optimization of inland river basins in arid regions: a case study in Tarim River basin. Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2022, 9476860.
Mathematical problems in engineering landscape ecological security assessment and ecological pattern optimization of inland river basins in arid regions: a case study in Tarim River basin.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Peng, T, and Deng, H (2020). Comprehensive evaluation on water resource carrying capacity based on DPESBR framework: a case study in Guiyang, southwest China. Journal of Cleaner Production 268, 122235.
Comprehensive evaluation on water resource carrying capacity based on DPESBR framework: a case study in Guiyang, southwest China.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Peng, J, Zhao, H, Liu, Y, and Wu, J (2017). Research progress and prospect on regional ecological security pattern construction. Geographical Research 36, 407–419.
Research progress and prospect on regional ecological security pattern construction.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Pereda, O, von Schiller, D, Garcia-Baquero, G, Mor, J-R, Acuña, V, Sabater, S, and Elosegi, A (2021). Combined effects of urban pollution and hydrological stress on ecosystem functions of Mediterranean streams. Science of The Total Environment 753, 141971.
Combined effects of urban pollution and hydrological stress on ecosystem functions of Mediterranean streams.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Qiao, L, Zhang, Y, and Cao, W (2008). Evaluation of urban river landscape design rationality based on AHP. Water Science and Engineering 1, 75–81.

Rubinato, M, Luo, M, Zheng, X, Pu, JH, and Shao, S (2020). Advances in modelling and prediction on the impact of human activities and extreme events on environments. Water 12, 1768–1777.
Advances in modelling and prediction on the impact of human activities and extreme events on environments.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Saaty TL (1980) ‘The analytic hierarchy process.’ (McGraw-Hill: New York, NY, USA)

Saaty, TL (1986). Axiomatic foundation of the analytic hierarchy process. Management Science 32, 841–855.
Axiomatic foundation of the analytic hierarchy process.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Saaty TL, Vargas LG (1994) ‘Decision making in economic, political, social, and technological environments with the analytic hierarchy process.’ (RWS Publications: Pittsburg, PA, USA)

Sun, B, Tang, J, Yu, D, Song, Z, and Wang, P (2019). Ecosystem health assessment: a PSR analysis combining AHP and FCE methods for Jiaozhou Bay, China. Ocean & Coastal Management 168, 41–50.
Ecosystem health assessment: a PSR analysis combining AHP and FCE methods for Jiaozhou Bay, China.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Wang, RF, and Nan, ZR (2013). Applied research on the risk assessment of the Heihe River Basin based on the theory of landscape ecology. Journal of Safety and Environment 13, 133–137.

Wu, J, Mao, R, Li, M, Xia, J, Song, J, Cheng, D, and Sun, H (2020). Assessment of aquatic ecological health based on determination of biological community variability of fish and macroinvertebrates in the Weihe River Basin, China. Journal of Environmental Management 267, 110651.
Assessment of aquatic ecological health based on determination of biological community variability of fish and macroinvertebrates in the Weihe River Basin, China.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Xie, X, Chen, Z, Wang, F, Bai, M, and Xu, W (2017). Ecological risk assessment of Taihu Lake basin based on landscape pattern. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology 28, 3369–3377.
Ecological risk assessment of Taihu Lake basin based on landscape pattern.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Xiong, Y, Wang, M, Yuan, H, Du, C, and Wu, H (2020). Landscape ecological risk assessment and its spatio-temporal evolution in Dongting Lake area. Ecology and Environmental Sciences 29, 1292–1301.
Landscape ecological risk assessment and its spatio-temporal evolution in Dongting Lake area.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Yuan, Q, Wu, H, Zhao, Y, Zhang, Y, Yao, R, Zhao, Y, and Yang, W (2022). Ecosystem health of the Beiyun River basin (Beijing, China) as evaluated by the method of combination of AHP and PCA. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 29, 39116–39130.
Ecosystem health of the Beiyun River basin (Beijing, China) as evaluated by the method of combination of AHP and PCA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |