An Optimization Model to Mitigate Conflicts in the Geum River Basin, Korea

The Geum River basin, one of most important river basins in Korea, is located in the South Central portion of the country. Water conflicts have erupted in the Geum River basin twice recently, during the droughts of 1995 and 2001. These recent events have accentuated the need for careful planning in the basin and focused attention on the conjunctive operation of Daechong Dam and the Yongdam Dam (constructed in 2001). This paper describes the development of an optimization model that enhances understanding of water planning in the basin and provides a disciplined method for developing and comparing robust and reliable reservoir operation alternatives for the Geum River basin. The mathematical objective function of the model is to minimize the maximum difference between supply and demand subject to constraints representing: (1) conjunctive dam operation, (2) instream flows downstream of the dams, and (3) increasing water demands in Jonju area. Stochastic constraints, as well as deterministic constraints, are included to develop robust operating alternatives. Most significant among the uncertainties that must be included in the models are those associated with future water demands and streamflow forecasts.