Optimal Operation of Multiple Reservoir Systems

Abstract

The national interest in hydroelectric power generation has focused increased attention on the potential for greater energy production from existing and planned reservoir systems. A methodology is presented for determining the optimal long‐term operation of a specified system of surface water resources facilities, consisting of reservoirs, stream reaches, and water conveyance facilties. These facilties are assumed to be operated for water supply, hydroelectric power generation, and low flow augmentation. The optimal operation of such a system over a drought period is formulated into a deterministic, nonlinear optimization problem, with the decision variables being the monthly reservoir releases and canal and pipeline flows. A successive linear approximation technique is utilized to iteratively change the arc bounds and costs on a generalized network representation of the surface water system until an optimal solution is derived. The algorithm is applied to a large water resources system consisting of 27 reservoirs, and the results reviewed.