Towards More Productive Water Allocation with Water Demand Management

The impact of a water demand management plan on water users is investigated within a comprehensive cooperative water allocation model. A demand management plan is specified and incorporated into the two-step multi-period fair water allocation model. The results indicate that cooperation can yield more net benefits, and a water demand management plan is able to lead to a further increase of the aggregated net benefits. The additional net benefits can be fairly allocated among users by using a modified cooperative game. Fair sharing of additional net benefits provides a motivation for water users to implement a water demand management plan, and eventually to achieve a more productive water management.