An Analytical Hierarchy Process Approach for Prioritization of Objectives and Parameters for an Integrated Urban Water Management

For sustainable development of urban areas, it is essential to address urban water management integrated with the urban water systems and spatial planning of the cities and the subsequent uncertainties. An integrated urban water management and planning model will help ensure water security, mitigate floods and droughts, reduce the negative environmental impact of urbanization and climate change, and bring coherence in the water supply management with the cities’ spatial planning and relevant policies. In the present research, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi-criteria decision analysis, has been implemented to calculate the weightage of different parameters associated with urban water management and planning. AHP uses linguistic and quantitative variables based on experts’ opinions for selecting and prioritizing the objectives and parameters for an integrated approach to urban water management and spatial planning under uncertainties. The local and global weights of objectives, parameters, key indicators, and sub-indicators were calculated after pairwise comparison by 32 experts from academia and industry in urban planning and civil and environmental engineering for the case of Ranchi, a city in eastern India. The study establishes the financial factors (36.97%) as one of the important attributes, followed by environmental factors (26.71%) for consideration in integrated urban water management. Further, Alternative D (45.256%) is framed by collaborating different objectives of IUWM, such as ensuring water security through alternative water sources, mitigating floods and droughts, and water supply planning considering land use, management policies, and climate change. The research findings can assist decision-makers in prioritizing the various objectives and parameters for integrated urban water management in cities with similar population sizes and organic growth.