Managing stakeholders' conflicts for water reallocation from agriculture to industry in the Heihe River Basin in Northwest China

Along with the accelerating process of industrialization and urbanization, water reallocation from agriculture to industry will be an inevitable trend in most developing countries. In the inland river basin, inter-sectoral water transfer is likely to result in reallocation of water resources between upstream and downstream regions, and further triggers frictions and conflicts between regions. Designing effective policy measures to coordinate these conflicts among stakeholders is crucial for the successful implementation of water reallocation. This study established a participatory multi-attribute decision support model to seek a widely acceptable water allocation alternative in the Heihe River Basin, an arid region in Northwest China. The results indicate that: (1) intense conflicts arise not only among stakeholder groups but also between upstream and downstream regions in the process of water reallocation from agriculture to industry; (2) among the options which respectively emphasize on equity, efficiency, and sustainability, the combination of equity and efficiency is the least controversial alternative for the majority of stakeholder groups, although it is not the most desirable one in the performance of all sub-objectives; (3) the multi-attribute value theory (MAVT) approach is a useful technique to elicit stakeholder values and to evaluate water reallocation options. The technique can improve the transparency and credibility of decision making in the water management process.