Optimal Daily Operation of Surface‐Water Systems

Abstract

The managers of large‐scale, surface‐water reservoir and delivery systems are required on a daily basis to make complex operating decisions. To assist in that decision process, a computational methodology is presented for determining the optimal operation of a general surface‐water resources system of water storage and conveyance facilities. The system is assumed to be operated for hydroelectric power generation, water supply, flood control, and low flow augmentation. The daily operation of such a system is represented as a deterministic, nonlinear optimization problem, with the decision variables being the average daily reservoir releases, water diversions, and pipeline and canal flows. Successive linear programming (SLP) is used to iteratively change the daily reservoir releases to improve system performance. The SLP algorithm converges to an operational policy satisfying the necessary conditions for optimality. The algorithm, incorporated into the MONITOR‐I computer program, is applied to the Lower Rio Grande System in Texas, and the results reviewed.