Deriving Reservoir Cascade Operation Rules for Variable Streamflows by Optimizing Hydropower Generation and Irrigation Water Delivery
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 147, Issue 7
Abstract
Determining beneficial operation rules for complex reservoir cascades is challenging due to the variability of river inflows, multiple water users, and the computational burden imposed by optimization calculations. Water managers of Sri Lanka face the challenge of balancing water releases for hydropower and for irrigated agriculture in the Mahaweli project. This study derived Mahaweli reservoir operation policies—reservoir rule curves and water allocation rules—by optimizing hydropower generation and agricultural yield. We derived operation rules for three reservoirs and one water diversion structure, because these offer the main opportunities for controllability of hydropower and irrigation. We used a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm to optimize hydropower and agriculture yields for 1,000 synthetically generated reservoir inflows that capture the natural variability of the monsoon seasons. The optimization problem was simplified by focusing on the main components of the cascade and by carrying out the computation in two stages. Despite the simplification, the operation rules derived using multiobjective optimization enhanced hydropower and agriculture yield compared with the values from current rules. The solution set exposed the trade-off between energy and agricultural yield objectives. Risk-neutral and risk-averse optimized rules and trade-offs between the objectives provide information that can be used to adapt water management practices for different hydrological conditions, which can be beneficial to thousands of people. Water managers of similar reservoir cascades can use the method to select policies considering trade-offs among objectives.
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Data Availability Statement
All data used in this study were from the Water Management Secretariat of Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka (http://mahaweli.gov.lk/en/water.html) and the Generation Planning Division of Ceylon Electricity Board (http://www.ceb.lk/). Please contact the authors to obtain other data or model results.
Acknowledgments
This research is part of a multidisciplinary research initiative called Adaptation to Precipitation Trends in Sri Lanka (ADAPT-SL) at Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment (VIEE). The work is supported by the National Science Foundation, Water, Sustainability and Climate (WSC) Program (Grant No. NSF-EAR 1204685). The authors acknowledge Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka and Ceylon Electricity Board for providing data and guidance for the study.
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Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 147 • Issue 7 • July 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 12, 2019
Accepted: Nov 25, 2020
Published online: Apr 30, 2021
Published in print: Jul 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Sep 30, 2021
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