Happy River evaluation system and its application

The construction of rivers into Happy Rivers is a new goal for river management in China in the new era, which is of great significance for sustainable development of river health and the society. The present study further evaluated the concept of a Happy River and proposed a Happy River evaluation system. The evaluation system is based on the framework of the "Four Major Judgment Criteria", namely, safe operation, continuous supply, ecological health, and harmonious development, and included 16 and 34 basic and alternative indicators, respectively, according to the three levels of "goal-criteria-indicator". By referencing the large number of normative and standard documents along with the research results, five levels of Happy River grading standards were proposed for each indicator. The "Happy River Index" was introduced for quantitative evaluation of river status, and the "single index quantification-multiple indices synthesis-poly-criteria integration" method was used to calculate the index; Finally, the evaluation system was applied to the Yellow River, China for 2017, including the Yellow River segment, nine provinces, and the Weihe River tributary. The present study verified that the proposed evaluation system accurately represented the Happy River status of the Yellow River, and the evaluation system is therefore reliable and applicable.