Application of Game Theory in Water Supply Management in Rajkot City

Abstract

Water resources are essential elements for the existence of human beings and all other species. In India per
capita surface water availability in the years 1991 and 2001 were 2309 m
3
and 1902 m3
and these are projected to
reduce to 1401 m
3
and 1191 m3
by the years 2025 and 2050 respectively. In India, the major challenge is to manage its
increasing water demand and tackling its water losses through leakage and non-revenue water. Managing water demand
usually involves some conflicts which may occur among the different stakeholders. The present water demand for the
Rajkot City is 270 MLD while Rajkot Municipal Corporation can continues supply water to the city of 245 MLD
considering all water supply sources available in Rajkot city. So, there is 25 MLD gap between water demand and water
supply in the Rajkot city. It is expected to increase to 111 MLD and 192 MLD by 2035 and 2050 respectively. The water
demand-supply gap in Rajkot city is expected to almost double by 2050. This gap is continuing increasing day by day as
population increases. This calls for the identification of proper sources of water supply, their conservation and optimal
utilization. The overall objective of this study is to develop a methodology to provide optimal solution for water supply in
Rajkot city.
In the present study, a five user water distribution model is formulated for Rajkot City. The game theoretic approach is
utilized in analyzing water conflicts between different users i.e. industrial (k=1), Unaccounted (k=2), Institutional (k=3),
domestic (k=4) and Public (k=5) for the optimal supply of freshwater to different users from different water sources i.e.
Ajii-I (ak), Narmada (nk), Nyari-I (nyk), Bhadar(bk*), Nyari-II (nyk*) to fill the gap between water demand and water
supply in the Rajkot city. Their common objective is to minimize water shortage or to maximize water supply. However,
the water supply is limited which results in a conflict between these users. Game theory is an appropriate approach to
simulate and resolve such conflicts. Non-symmetric Nash bargaining solution is used to develop an environment for the
conservation of water and optimized the weighted Nash product to obtain the actual solutions. From the study, it is
concluded that there is no water distribution strategy which satisfies the need of domestic users with current water
distribution system. Water pricing policy would be one of the solutions to provide incentive to the users and promote
efficient and equitable use of water for different users