Spatial analysis of regional water resources carrying capacity based on geographic information system and multivariate statistical techniques

Regional water resources carrying capacity is important aspect for local government in order to assess regional sustainable water resources management. This paper explores the method of comprehensive evaluation of water resources carrying capacity based on geographic information system and multivariate statistical techniques. The factor analysis yielded three factors explaining more than 85% of the total variance. Total water resources carrying capacity of three metropolis of Hangzhou, Wenzhou and Ningbo were larger than other those cities in Zhejiang. Hierarchical cluster analysis (CA) grouped 11 sampling cities into three clusters, including relatively less level (LL), medium level (ML) and highly level (HL) regions. The results of the discriminant analysis were in agreement with that of the CA. This study demonstrated that multivariate statistical techniques and geographic information system are useful tools for spatial evaluation of water resources carrying capacity level to get better information.