Optimizing Watershed Management by Coordinated Operation of Storing Facilities
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 139, Issue 5
Abstract
Water storing facilities in a watershed are very often operated independently one to another to meet specific operating objectives, with no information sharing among the operators. This uncoordinated approach might result in upstream-downstream disputes and conflicts among different water users or inefficiencies in the watershed management when looked at from the viewpoint of an ideal central decision-maker. In this paper, the authors propose an approach in two steps to design coordination mechanisms at the watershed scale with the ultimate goal of enlarging the space for negotiated agreements between competing uses and improving the overall system efficiency. First, the multiobjective centralized solution is computed to assess the maximum potential benefits of a shift from a sector-by-sector to an ideal fully coordinated perspective. Then, the Pareto-optimal operating policies are analyzed to gain insight into suitable strategies to foster cooperation or impose coordination among the involved agents. The approach is demonstrated on an Alpine watershed in Italy where a long lasting conflict exists between upstream hydropower production and downstream irrigation water users. Results show that a coordination mechanism can be designed that drive the current uncoordinated structure towards the performance of the ideal centralized operation.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Fondazione Lombardia per l’Ambiente for partially funding the research and A2A and ENEL Produzione for providing access to the data. The findings, opinions, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not represent the views or opinions of A2A and ENEL Produzione or any person employed in these companies.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 139 • Issue 5 • September 2013
Pages: 492 - 500
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 20, 2012
Accepted: Sep 10, 2012
Published online: Sep 13, 2012
Discussion open until: Feb 13, 2013
Published in print: Sep 1, 2013
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