Bankruptcy Model Application to Missouri River Water Allocation

Abstract

Growing demand for water and improper resource management over the years have led conflicts among states and countries. This research applies cooperative game theory. The bankruptcy model, where claims for resources exceed their total availability, was applied to Missouri River water allocation during dry years. In this study, five allocation rules were applied. These include Proportional, Constrained Equal Award, Sequential Sharing Rules based Proportional, Mianabadi’s methodology, and a proposed Modified Constrained Equal Award rule in allocating Missouri River water among two agents where their primary purposes were managing the reservoir water level and navigation channel. Selection of the best allocation rule depends on the beneficiaries, and there is no exact method to choose the best. However, this study reveals that the best approaches are proposed Modified Constrained Equal Award and Proportional rules to allocate water among the agents in the Missouri River for dry years.