Multi-attribute Decision-Making: A View of the World of Decision-Making

Water resources planning and management is marked by competing interests and different values of multiple stakeholders. Thus, when it comes to making any decision with regard to water resources, different - and often conflicting - interests have to be taken into consideration. Multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) is an umbrella term to describe mathematical frameworks that enable decision-makers to quantify the desirability of alternative options with respect to a set of evaluation attributes. As these evaluation attributes represent the multitude of competing interests, MADM are especially helpful for water resources planning and management. This chapter aims to shed light on the logic behind MADM methods, different schools of thought in MADM, and the characteristics that made these methods crucial for water resources planning and management.