CalSim: Generalized Model for Reservoir System Analysis

Abstract

The California State Department of Water Resources and the United States Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region have developed a general-purpose reservoir–river basin simulation model for the planning and management of the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. The California Water Resources Simulation Model brings a fundamental change to modeling of these systems. Model users specify system objectives as input to the model. System description and operational constraints are specified using a new water resources engineering simulation language. A mixed integer linear programming solver efficiently routes water through the system network given the user-defined priorities or weights. Simulation cycles at different temporal scales allow for successive layering of constraints. The power and flexibility of the model is demonstrated by its ability to simulate the operation of complex new environmental water accounts.