Using the VIKOR method to evaluate the design of a water quality monitoring network in a watershed

Water quality monitoring stations play critical roles for analyzing the information of water quality conditions in a watershed. The understanding of water quality conditions of a river system is very important for water resource management. This study applied the VIKOR method, a commonly used method in multiple criteria analysis, to evaluate the design of the water quality monitoring network in the Taipei Water Resource Domain (TWRD). Five criteria were selected for multiple criteria analysis: non-point source pollution, green cover ratio, landslide area ratio, over-utilization area ratio of hillsides, and density of water quality monitoring stations. This study recommended several areas where there is a need for sufficient monitoring records of water quality. The result shows that more monitoring stations are needed in the Bei-Shih Creek Basin. Although the Nan-Shih Creek Basin covers larger area than the Bei-Shih Creek Basin and the Sin-Dian Creek Basin, it can accept less density of water quality monitoring stations.