Multiobjective Allocation of Transboundary Water Resources: Case of the Euphrates and Tigris

Abstract

The allocation of water in a multicountry river system necessarily involves conflicting objectives, where increasing water benefits for one country entails losses for other countries. This paper presents the formulation and application of a multiobjective linear programming model, where each objective represents the benefits for a country from using water for agriculture, urban consumption, and energy production, net of conveyance costs. This model is applied to the Euphrates and Tigris River basin and its three riparian countries—Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. The model is used to delineate the set of nondominated solutions (Pareto frontier), and is extended to include political factors and distributional constraints, leading to an allocation of basin water and resulting benefits.