Computing payment for ecosystem services in watersheds: An analysis of the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion in China

Payment for ecosystem services （PES） has attracted considerable attention as an economic incentive for promoting natural resource management recently. As emphasis has been placed on using the incentive-based mechanism by the central government, rapid progress on PES research and practice has been achieved. However PES still faces many difficulties. A key issue is the lack of a fully-fledged theory and method to clearly define the design scope, accounting and feasibility of PES criteria. An improved watershed criteria model was developed in light of research on PES practices in China, investigations on the water source area for the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion and ecosystem services outflows theory. The basic principle of assessment is the direct and opportunity cost for ecological conservation and environmental protection in the water source area deduct nationally-financed PES and internal effect. Then the scope and the criteria methods were determined, and internal effect was put forward to define benefits brought from water source area. Finally, Shiyan City, which is the main water source area for the Project of Water Diversion, was analyzed by this model and its payment was calculated. The results showed that： （1） during 2003–2050, the total direct cost and opportunity cost would reach up to 262.70 billion and 256.33 billion Chinese Yuan （CNY, 2000 constant prices）, i.e., 50.61% and 49.38% of total cost, respectively; （2） Shiyan City would gain 0.23, 0.06 and 0.03 CNY/m3 in 2014–2020, 2021–2030, and 2031–2050, respectively.

Stability Analysis on Automatic Control Methods of Open Canal

The relationship between the automatic control method and the stability of the open canal is studied by means of numerical simulation of unsteady flow in an open canal under different methods of control. It is found the Proportional-Proportional plus Reset （P＋PR） control is more reliable than the Linear Quadratic Regulator （LQR） control. Moreover, for the P＋PR control, the hydraulic response of the constant volume method of operation is better than that of the constant downstream depth method in the type of centrally controlled canal. Therefore, an appropriate flow change rate should be chosen instead of shortening the pool length to reach an acceptable drawdown rate. For the canal with a bottom width of 40 m, side slope of 3, Manning n of 0.015, bottom slope of 0.000 04, and design flow of 600 m3/s, the pool length of more than 30 km can provide acceptable drawdown rates of 0.2 m/h when a proper flow change rate is chosen.