Real‐Time Reservoir Operations by Goal Programming

Abstract

Preemptive goal programming is applied to the real‐time, daily operation of multiple‐purpose, multiple‐reservoir systems. A significant advantage of the goal programming approach is that it may be based on physical operating criteria. It does not require the penalty‐benefit functions that may be difficult to define but are essential to other real‐time operating models. Therefore, it is easier to implement. The goal programming model is applied to the Green River Basin (GRB) system comprising four multipurpose reservoirs. The GRB system operations resulting from use of the goal programming model are compared to operations resulting from another optimization model which is more data intensive and which was designed specifically for the GRB system. Both sets of operations are comparable in their effectiveness, although in some cases the goal programming operations are better.