A Real‐Time Approach to Management and Monitoring of Groundwater Hydraulics

Abstract

This paper describes a sequential approach to the management and monitoring program of groundwater hydraulics. The management model, structured as a discrete time optimal control problem, identifies the optimal withdrawal rates by satisfying a penalty type cost function of two conflicting objectives: satisfying withdrawal demands and maintaining target hydraulic head levels. A control action obtained in the feedback form is shown in this study to depend on future uncertainty in the hydraulic head prediction due to the variability in the hydraulic conductivity. As new field observations become available the hydraulic conductivity field is updated in “real‐time.” A numerical example demonstrates the sequential approach and quantifies the benefits of using the monitoring program. The effects of the objective function uncertainty upon the optimal management solution is discussed; a simple case illustrating an optimization bias appearance is presented.