| Abstract: | ABSTRACT: Ground water nitrate contamination is widespread in the United States and especially prevalent in agriculture-intensive areas such as the Midwest. To reduce human health risks (i.e., methemoglobinemia and cancer risks) from nitrates in ground water supplies, several nitrate risk-management strategies can be developed based on acceptable levels of human health risks, the reasonableness of the cost required for risk reduction, and the technical feasibility of nitrate-control methods. However, due to a lack of available information, assessing risk, cost, and technical feasibility contains elements of uncertainty. In this paper, a nitrate risk-management methodology using fuzzy sets in combination with a multicriterion decision-making (MCDM) technique is developed to assist decision makers in evaluating, with uncertain information, possible regulatory actions along with the various nitrate risk-management strategies in order to determine an appropriate strategy. The methodology is illustrated using data from a community with a nitrate water-quality problem. |
