Linking ecohydraulic simulation and optimization system for mitigating economic and environmental losses of reservoirs

Abstract

AbstractBalancing the benefits and environmental degradations of the reservoirs is a challenging issue in the reservoir management. The present study proposes and evaluates an integrated framework to optimize reservoir operation in which hydropower loss and economic loss of irrigation supply are minimized while ecological degradations at downstream river are alleviated. The ecohydraulic simulation was utilized in the structure of the reservoir operation optimization. Reservoir operation losses and environmental degradations were minimized in three hydrological conditions including dry years, normal years and wet years. Moreover, the cropping pattern optimization was applied to mitigate the economic loss of irrigation supply as the main responsibility of the reservoir in the study area. Particle swarm optimization was applied in the reservoir operation optimization. Based on the results in the case study, reliability indices of hydropower production and farmers’ revenue are 15–25 and 30–60%, respectively. Moreover, the physical habitat loss is considerably reduced in all hydrologic conditions by proposing optimal environmental flow. The proposed method is able to provide a fair balance between downstream environmental degradations and economic benefits of the reservoir including farmers’ revenue and hydropower production. Low computational complexities are the most important strength point for the developed model.