Reservoir Systems Analysis: Closing Gap between Theory and Practice

TLDR

The systems approach to reservoir management has become a key advance in water resources engineering, yet a gap remains between research and practical application. This paper reviews mathematical models for reservoir management, summarizes prior state‑of‑the‑art conclusions, and proposes two ideas to bridge theory and practice. The authors review existing reservoir models and propose two practical solutions: a simulation‑optimization sizing model and a knowledge‑based analysis tool. The simulation‑optimization model demonstrates how systems thinking can meet engineers’ practical needs, while the knowledge‑based tool shows benefits for single‑multipurpose reservoir analysis.

Abstract

During the past three decades, the application of the systems approach to reservoir management and operations has been established as one of the most important advances made in the field of water resources engineering. A primary role of systems analysis is to provide an improved basis for decision making. It has been concluded that a gap still exists between research studies and the application of a systems approach in practice. The objective of this paper is to provide a short review of the mathematical models used in reservoir management and operations, to present conclusions reached by previous state‐of‐the‐art reviews, and to provide two ideas for closing the gap between theory and practice. First, a simple simulation‐optimization model for reservoir sizing has been presented as an example of systems approach respond to practical needs of water resources engineers. The second example illustrates the benefits of knowledge‐based technology with regard to single‐multipurpose reservoir analysis.