Management of water resources in a fractionation park through decision-making tools

Abstract

Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, is located in the border region of northern Mexico, where the arid characteristics of the area make water a limiting factor. Moreover, local authorities are likely to soon prohibit the use of potable water for park irrigation, making it necessary to explore alternative solutions. For this study, a survey was administered to 60 families residing in the Quinta Esmeralda Subdivision to assess their preferences regarding five proposed alternatives for park irrigation. Each alternative had different attributes (benefits and limitations) that were communicated to the respondents. None of the options was directly chosen by more than 25% of the respondents. The survey also included specific questions to evaluate residents' opinions on the various attributes of each option, which were used as criteria for selecting the most appropriate solution. This study employs the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) multi-criteria decision-making tool to assess the various irrigation alternatives, aiming to identify the one that best meets the residents' criteria for water resource management. The five alternatives evaluated were:

• Replacement with artificial grass,
• Replacing current vegetation with endemic vegetation,
• Irrigation with treated water,
• Developing a sunken park, and
• Drip irrigation.

The evaluation criteria included: Installation cost, Maintenance cost, Loss of vegetation, Loss of space, Consumption of drinking water, and Loss of park aesthetics. The analysis indicates that the alternative that best aligns with the residents' interests is the replacement of the park's current vegetation with endemic vegetation, which requires less irrigation and maintenance while maintaining the same amount of space and approximately the same aesthetics of the park.