Ranking of Skudai river sub-watersheds from sustainability indices - application of promethee method

Abstract

In this study, ranking of sub-watersheds in the Skudai River watershed was developed from the sustainability index. The watershed sustainability index (WSI) was developed by considering two important parameters such as potential flood damages (PFD) and potential water quality deterioration (PWQD) parameters. Preference Ranking Organization Method (PROMETHEE), a multicriteria decision making (MCDM) method, was used and WSI scores for 25 Skudai River sub-watersheds were produced. Based on the WSI score, a ranking of sub-watersheds was developed to locate the more problematic areas in the Skudai River watershed. The middle and lower parts of the Skudai River watershed were found to have considerably low sustainability score which suggested the degradation of sub-watersheds from water quality and flood damage parameters. The ranking of sub-watersheds in this study will assist planners and decision makers to identify the problematic areas within the watershed so that priority interventions can be built before the problem gets worse and affects other areas of the Skudai River watershed.