A Water Footprint Based Model On River Basin Eco-Compensation

Water resource is a public goods, with a broad ecological impact to the local ecosystem. Its systematic feature and externality require a close collaboration among all the stakeholders. In this regard, how to evaluate the relationship between the use of water resource and the investment on environmental protection, as well as to establish a reasonable model on ecological compensation has become an imperative issue.Therefore, the thesis establishes the indicator system of river eco-compensation quantitative standard with the purpose of evaluating the investment on river environment within basin. And mover, based upon water footprint theory, this study aims to calculate river basin water footprint, reflecting the real water resource consumption in different regions and judging the water ecological security. Meanwhile this study establishes a new model on river basin's eco-compensation in order to reveal the real contribution of ecological service provided by different ecosystems and decide the quantitative standard on such compensation. The results can help water resource manager analyze and solve the conflicts among different regions by providing scientific decision support.This thesis is composted of six chapters. To begin with, Chapter One summarizes research background, research purpose and the significance. Chapter Two is the literature review of eco-compensation, the water footprint theory and method. Then, Chapter three analyzes the compound system characteristics of river eco-compensation and proposed the indicator system according to river eco-compensation quantitative standard. Furthmore, Chapter Four proposes a new model on river basin's eco-compensation based on water footprint model, and proposed the management model to enhance the sustainable development of river. What's more, Chapter Five is a case study that approach on Biliu River basin is employed, analyzing water footprint and investment on environmental protection within the Biliu river basin from the period 2002 to 2006. Finally, it concludes the main points of the thesis. That is as follows. The evaluation indicators of river eco-compensation quantitative standard can effectively evaluate the environmental investments in different regions within whole basin. Additionally, the theory and method of water footprint, combining the water eco-system function with the consumption of water, reflect the pressure on water resource ecosystem. Consequently, it is objective and accurate that the river eco-compensation quantitative standard is based on water footprint and indicator system of river eco-compensation.