Strategic Reservoirs Research Articles

Use of bathymetry and clay mineralogy of reservoir sediment to reconstruct the recent changes in sediment yields from a mountain catchment in the Western High Atlas region, Morocco

The dam of Takerkoust, located at the outlet side of N'fis Basin (Western High Atlas of Morocco), is one of the strategic reservoirs in Morocco facing a serious problem of siltation due to soil erosion. A paleo-hydrology approach combining chronological and sedimentological analyses is conducted to understand the evolution of the depositional sediment history of the Takerkoust reservoir between 1988 and 2016. First, a series of 8 bathymetric surveys in the Takerkoust reservoir was used to determine the chronology of flood event deposits. Second, grain size distribution, clay mineralogy (XRD) and organic matter content were analyzed in 2 cores drilled in the Takerkoust reservoir and the newly build Ouirgane reservoir in upstream (from which 46 samples were taken). Third, Soils samples collected from the uppermost soil horizons (First 5 cm) of different localities of the N’fis watershed were also analyzed to identify sediments origins. Eleven couplets with different textures and thickness are identified in the Takerkoust reservoir corresponding to the period 1988–2016. The highest correlation is observed between instantaneous maximum flow and thickness of the sandy component of the couplets. The variation of the siltation rate allows highlighting two distinct periods: the oldest period (1988–1999) characterized by a high sediment yield SY (908.6 t·km−2·yr−1) and a youngest one (1999–2016) characterized by a low SY (203.9 t·km−2·yr−1). The newly built Ouirgane dam, seems to be responsible for the decreasing siltation rate and change of the clay assemblages of the sedimentary series in Takerkoust reservoir.

Vulnerabilidade natural de aquíferos e a potencial contaminação dos recursos hídricos subterrâneos no Estado do Acre

Aquíferos são reservatórios estratégicos para qualquer unidade territorial, pois servem como futura utilização. No entanto, devem ser devidamente protegidos de potenciais cargas poluidoras, seja de origem antrópica ou industrial. Tais ações dependem de políticas fomentadas pelo poder público e das condições dos assentamentos urbanos sobre aquíferos, lhes instituindo assim, condição de vulnerabilidade. Nesse sentido, o presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar a vulnerabilidade natural do aquífero Rio Branco, localizado na cidade com mesmo nome, no estado do Acre. Para tanto, utilizou-se a metodologia GOD - G (Groundwater occurrence), O (Overall aquifer class), D (Depth to groundwater table) para avaliar a vulnerabilidade natural do aquifero utlizando também técnicas de geoprocessamento. O estudo identificou que aquifero Rio Branco apresenta elevado grau de vulnerabildiade (0.6) com a apliação da metodologia e, nesse sentido também, vem propor e contribuir com politicas públicas eficientes dentro do ordenamento territorial da cidade como forma de minimizar os impactos diretos sobre esse importante reservatório subsuperficial.

NeStRes – Model for Operation of Non-Strategic Reservoirs for Irrigation in Drylands: Model Description and Application to a Semiarid Basin

Water availability in dry inhabited environments has usually been promoted by large strategic reservoirs, but small non-strategic ones, built by farmers and communities, are unable to cope with long term droughts and inappropriate for human supply. Nevertheless, small reservoirs promote water spatial distribution and play a major role for livelihood in rural areas. To fill the gap of operation methods for non-strategic reservoirs used for irrigation where water is a limiting factor, the NeStRes model was developed. The model is composed of three modules: i) hydrological: to define the reliability of water withdrawals from the reservoir; ii) agricultural: to simulate crop production based on water availability; iii) economic: to compute the possible income from irrigated agricultural crops. NeStRes was applied to 91 reservoirs of the semiarid Banabuiu River Basin – BRB, Brazil. The simulations indicated that the maximum income from the cultivation of maize is obtained when the reservoirs are intensely used, drying completely in one to two thirds of the time. Adoption of a fixed reliability level of daily water supply (54%, in the BRB) generates at least 85% of the maximum possible income for all simulated reservoirs. This model application suggests a paradigm change in the operation of small non-strategic reservoirs in drylands: to use water for crop production and save the revenue, instead of saving water, which is susceptible to evaporation. Although high reliability level is desired for human supply by strategic reservoirs, non-strategic ones can be more intensely explored to generate income from irrigated agriculture in drylands.

Decentralized water supply by reservoir network reduces power demand for water distribution in a semi-arid basin

ABSTRACTIn the Brazilian semi-arid region, thousands of small dams have been built over time to enhance water availability, accumulating water and hydraulic energy at high altitudes. Simulations were performed in this study to assess how the arrangement of reservoirs impacts on the power demand for water distribution in the Banabuiú River Basin (19 800 km2), Brazil. The power required to pump water from 1405 reservoirs to all districts with diffuse demands is 6.5 GWh/year, whereas in the scenario with only the 12 larger strategic reservoirs, the power demand reached 45.3 GWh/year. Alone, the largest reservoir in the basin can supply water to all districts. Nonetheless, in that scenario, the power demand would reach 195 GWh/year, which is 30 times the power required in the real reservoir arrangement. Thus, decentralization by small reservoirs not only promotes more democratic access to water, but also increases energy efficiency by storing it at higher altitudes and closer to the diffuse demands.

Adapting the EPIK method to Brazilian Hydro(geo)logical context of the São Miguel watershed to assess karstic aquifer vulnerability to contamination

Karst aquifers are, besides important strategic reservoirs of good quality water, heterogeneous and anisotropic, where highly permeable karst networks result in insufficient time for contaminant degradations, and hence the quasi-immediate contamination of the aquifer. The EPIK method is a low-cost technique and was developed to map karst regions based on four main feature indexes: 1) epikarst; 2) protective cover; 3) infiltration conditions; and 4) karst network development. However, the method was developed according to European hydrogeologic and temperate climatic contexts, where its application without adaptations in regions in different contexts may result in possible misunderstandings, such as overlook, underestimate or overestimate significances of some parameters (e.g. soil covers, rainfall regimes, morphological domains). The Brazilian São Miguel watershed, a tropical karst region where the city of Pains is located (southwestern Minas Gerais), is characterized by high levels of thermotolerant coliforms, phosphorus, nitrate, and cadmium in surface water and groundwater. These contaminants come from, agriculture, livestock, and urban areas. Due to these issues and to provide a tool of water resource management and land use planning, the EPIK method was adapted to the hydrogeologic reality of the São Miguel watershed, considering both local vegetation and the current Brazilian speleological heritage protection legislation. Results revealed that 52% of the area has moderate vulnerability and 7% high vulnerability, this latter one concentrated in areas close to mining activities and urban areas. The study provided a reliable map and adapted technique which can be used in other Brazilian karst regions and other tropical karst regions.

Agua subterránea y soberanía interdependiente: el caso de los Sistemas Acuíferos Transfronterizos en la región binacional de Paso del Norte

Mexico and the United States have a historic relationship in the political distribution of their transborder water. Nevertheless, with the deepening and importance of the North American Free Trade Agreement (nafta), transborder aquifer systems emerge as strategic reservoirs in the process of building water security on the border shared by the two nations. This article examines the case of Paso del Norte and the details of the competition for access and appropriation of transborder groundwater in recent decades based on asymmetrical institutional processes and mechanisms that have led to local political tensions. It also analyzes the implications and challenges Mexico must take on regarding the legal and institutional vacuums regulating these systems and reflects on the importance of designing a sovereign, interdependent water policy to foster cooperation for equitable distribution of transborder groundwater.

Underground structures increasing the intrinsic vulnerability of urban groundwater: Sensitivity analysis and development of an empirical law based on a groundwater age modelling approach

In a previous paper published in Journal of Hydrology, it was shown that underground structures are responsible for a mixing process between shallow and deep groundwater that can favour the spreading of urban contamination. In this paper, the impact of underground structures on the intrinsic vulnerability of urban aquifers was investigated. A sensitivity analysis was performed using a 2D deterministic modelling approach based on the reservoir theory generalized to hydrodispersive systems to better understand this mixing phenomenon and the mixing affected zone (MAZ) caused by underground structures. It was shown that the maximal extent of the MAZ caused by an underground structure is reached approximately 20years after construction. Consequently, underground structures represent a long-term threat for deep aquifer reservoirs. Regarding the construction process, draining operations have a major impact and favour large-scale mixing between shallow and deep groundwater. Consequently, dewatering should be reduced and enclosed as much as possible. The role played by underground structures’ dimensions was assessed. The obstruction of the first aquifer layer caused by construction has the greatest influence on the MAZ. The cumulative impact of several underground structures was assessed. It was shown that the total MAZ area increases linearly with underground structures’ density. The role played by materials’ properties and hydraulic gradient were assessed. Hydraulic conductivity, anisotropy and porosity have the strongest influence on the development of MAZ. Finally, an empirical law was derived to estimate the MAZ caused by an underground structure in a bi-layered aquifer under unconfined conditions. This empirical law, based on the results of the sensitivity analysis developed in this paper, allows for the estimation of MAZ dimensions under known material properties and underground structure dimensions. This empirical law can help urban planners assess the area of influence of underground structures and protect urban strategic reservoirs.

Recharge, groundwater flow pattern and contamination processes in an arid volcanic area: Insights from isotopic and geochemical tracers (Bara aquifer system, Republic of Djibouti)

Fractured volcanic aquifers are the main water resources in the arid climate of the Republic of Djibouti. Nonetheless, these strategic reservoirs are overexploited and their comprehensive understanding is therefore a pre-requisite for a sustainable use. A geochemical and isotopic survey, including major ion chemistry, 2H, 18O, 13C, 3H, 87Sr/86Sr, 15N was performed and combined with existing 14C data to study recharge, contamination processes and groundwater flow patterns inside and between the compartments of a complex aquifer system composed by basaltic rocks and by alluvium located in Petit Bara, Grand Bara, and Mouloud areas (Southwest of Djibouti). A main feature was the common trend from a fresh Na-Cl-HCO3 water type (alluvium groundwaters) to an intermediate water type (alluvium and basalt groundwaters) and finally to a Na-Cl-SO4 water type (most mineralized basalt groundwater). Elementary and isotopic nitrate evidenced and located anthropogenic and geogenic origins of nitrate. Alluvium groundwaters had δ2H and δ18O signature of modern precipitation while basalt groundwaters were significantly depleted and enriched in δ13C due to water-rock interactions. Modern radiocarbon and tritium were evidenced in the alluvium groundwaters, while recalculated radiocarbon ages located recharge of the basalt groundwaters in the early to mid-Holocene. These features revealed a common evolutionary pattern, with a recharge from wadi-rivers to the alluvium and a downward circulation to the basalt through major faults, combined with a mixing with a more geochemically evolved groundwater. Accordingly, highly saline groundwater at the outlet of the Petit Bara plain was found to be diluted by modern recharge in the alluvium. Two major basaltic aquifer compartments were found to be connected (Grand Bara and Mouloud), revealing a global northeastward flowpath below the endorheic Grand Bara plain.

The use of remote-sensing techniques to monitor dense reservoir networks in the Brazilian semiarid region

Reservoirs are the main water source in the Brazilian semiarid region, especially in the crystalline-geology watersheds, forming high-density reservoir networks (HdRN). However, in most cases, the construction of these reservoirs has been done without technical supervision. The objective of this work was to map and evaluate the spatial distribution of the 25,000 km2 Orós Reservoir Basin (ORB) HdRN, in semiarid Brazil, with the help of remote-sensing tools associated with geographic information systems (GIS). Using LANDSAT 5 images of the end of the 2011 rainy season of the ORB, the remote-sensing technique allowed the identification of 6002 polygons, which corresponded to only 4717 reservoirs (implying a misidentification of 21%). Between 2002 and 2011, a 17.5% increase (and 1.81% annual increase) in the number of reservoirs in the basin was observed, still lower than the annual increment from 1970 to 2002, when an average increase of 2.64% per year was observed, in other studies. The perimeter of the reservoirs ranged from 0.250 to 560 km and the individual water surface area ranged from 0.004 to 195.0 km2, resulting in a total surface of 465.0 km2. Analysing the surface area of the strategic reservoirs, results showed that the estimation of the surface area (from remote sensing with manual polygon adjustment) yielded values very close to those of the on-site monitored areas, with R2 = 0.99 and normalized difference index ranging from −0.02 to +0.09. The reservoir density in the ORB in 2011 was 0.19 reservoirs km–2, higher than the recommended optimum density of 0.15 reservoirs km–2 basin. Analysis of reservoir density by municipality recorded values ranging from 0.02 to 0.40 reservoirs km–2. The sedimentary-geology municipalities presented a reservoir density on average 80% lower than the that of the crystalline-geology municipalities, indicating a strong relationship between geology and reservoir density. Neither population density nor rainfall explained the spatial distribution of reservoirs within the basin, both yielding R2 lower than 0.1. This remote-sensing survey of reservoirs demonstrated two major flaws: the misidentification of shadows as reservoirs and the inability to identify the presence of macrophytes, which negatively affected the number and surface area of the target reservoirs. Despite these problems, remote sensing has been shown to be a technique of great potential in the planning and management of water resources in regions with dense reservoir networks.

Flujo de Carbono Orgánico Total (COT) en una cuenca andina: caso subcuenca Río Las Piedras

The study was conducted in order to calculate the flow of carboncarried by the Las Piedras river watershed, typical and representative of the South American tropical Andes, strategic reservoir of the hydrological resource. An observational research was performed over 20 months on the hydrological resource by means of a completely random design, stratified by altitude (masl), analyzing the TOC content, the physicochemical properties of the water and hydro-meteorological variables (discharge and seasonal variation). The average concentration of TOC mainly contributed from the high zone was 9 mg.L-1. A TOC flow of 2003.5 Kg.day-1 associated with the discharge and the humid seasonality is carried in average.The analysis related to physicochemical variables allows concluding that the river dissolves CO2 in its waters. This study supplements the behavioral analysis of the Andean rivers and their contribution to the global carbon cycle.

Rainfall Variability and Landuse Conversion Impacts to Sensitivity of Citarum River Flow

The objective of this study is to determine the sensitivity of Citarum river flow to climate change and land conversion. It will provide the flow information that required in the water resources sustainability. Saguling reservoir is one of the strategic reservoirs, which 75% water is coming from the inflow of Upper Citarum measured at Nanjung station. Climate variability was identified as rainfall variability. Sensitivity was calculated as the elasticity value of discharge using three-variate model of statistical approach. The landuse conversion was calculated used GIS at 1994 and 2004. The results showed that elasticity at the Nanjung station and Saguling station decreased from 1.59 and 1.02 to 0.68 and 0.62 respectively. The decreasing occurred in the before the dam was built period (1950-1980) to the after reservoirs operated period (1986-2008). This value indicates that: 1) Citarum river flow is more sensitive to rainfall variability that recorded at Nanjung station than Saguling station, 2) rainfall character is more difficult to predict. The landuse analysis shows that forest area decrease to ± 27% and built up area increased to ± 26%. Those implied a minimum rainfall reduction to± 8% and minimum flow to ± 46%. Those were caused by land conversion and describing that the vegetation have function to maintain the base flow for sustainable water resource infrastructure.

Impact of Dense Reservoir Networks on Water Resources in Semiarid Environments

The northeast of Brazil is a semiarid region where water scarcity is a major problem dealt with by the construction of dams. This policy generated a dense reservoir network in the region, resulting in a complex system. The impacts of the network have been assessed, and the results showed that the existence of a large number of small dams upstream the strategic ones, impact both negatively and positively the overall water availability. The negative effects of the network are mainly high evaporation losses from small reservoirs, and the fact that they add considerable complexity to the management of the system. On the other hand, the reservoirs generate a more democratic water distribution and higher energy rationality, as a consequence of the better spatial distribution of the water resources. In addition, sediment retention in the network leads to lower silting rate of strategic reservoirs, meaning lower temporal decay in water availability in the already water-scarce region.

Effects of sugarcane harvesting with burning on the chemical and microbiological properties of the soil

Soil microbial biomass represents an important and strategic reservoir of plant nutrients that can be quickly altered due to different soil and crop managements. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of sugarcane harvesting systems, with or without burning, on the chemical and biological properties of the soil. The experiment was conducted on a dystrophic red latosol (Oxisol) soil in 2008, in a commercial area of a sugarcane factory in the municipality of Paraguaçu Paulista, São Paulo state, Brazil. The treatments included areas previously burned, areas with mechanical harvesting and no burning and native forest. Soil samples were collected immediately after the sugarcane harvest from the treatments at a depth of 0–20cm. The parameters evaluated were: microbial biomass C and N (MB-C and MB-N), total organic C (TOC), recalcitrant C (R-C), labile-C (L-C), total nitrogen (TN), pH, exchangeable cations (Ca2++Mg2+ and K+), exchangeable (Al3+) and potential (H++Al3+) acidity, and P available in the soil. Soil chemical fertility under the sugarcane without burning was better than under sugarcane with burn. The TOC values for native forest and for the harvesting without burn were higher than those under the sugarcane with burn (148% and 54%, respectively). This superiority was also confirmed for TN, L-C and R-C. An even more significant difference was found under natural forest and sugarcane without burn for MB-C, which was 222% higher under native forest and 102% higher under sugarcane without burn than the value under sugarcane with burn, confirming that MB-C could be a reliable indicator of soil quality for monitoring soils under different sugarcane harvesting systems.

Application of multi-agent simulation to evaluate the influence of reservoir operation strategies on the distribution of water availability in the semi-arid Jaguaribe basin, Brazil

Studying the processes responsible for the distribution of water resources in a river basin over space and time is of great importance for spatial planning. In this study a multi-agent simulation approach is applied for exploring the influence of alternative reservoir operation strategies on water use distribution in the semi-arid Jaguaribe basin in case of decreasing rainfall. Water use distribution is analyzed both for one specific subbasin – our study area – and for the river basin level. Agents in this study are farmers that adapt to local variations in water availability. In this way both natural and human influences on water availability are taken into account. This study shows that a decrease in rainfall and runoff in the Jaguaribe basin leads to a transition of water use from the dry season to the wet season. The dry season water use decreases because of reduced water availability in the dry season. This mainly is the result of reduced rainfall and runoff in the wet season and the consequent increased water use for irrigation in the wet season. A decrease in rainfall and runoff also leads to a relative transition of water use from downstream to upstream at the basin scale. Strategic reservoir operation enables local water managers to offset the effect of decreasing rainfall and runoff with regards to water use at the subbasin level, at the cost of further decreasing water availability at the basin level.

Managing coastal evolution in a more sustainable manner. The Conscience approach

This paper summarises the main findings of the Conscience research project, whose primary objective was to define and validate, through pilot applications, a methodology to support the implementation, for European coasts, of concepts such as coastal resilience, favorable sediment status, strategic sediment reservoirs and coastal sediment cells. The Conscience conceptual framework to managing coastal erosion has proved to be an efficient tool, because it provides a consistent approach where objective (data) and subjective (desired status) information are analyzed and compared from the standpoint of a consensus target (objective). Moreover, this is done using the best available knowledge and observations, considering always their level of uncertainty, to conduct a sustainable management policy for coastal erosion. The methodology has been tested in field cases from The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and Ireland, to cover different time and space scales, together with a wide range of processes and different management objectives.

Surrounding Rock Mass Quality Evaluation of Huangdao Water Sealed Underground Oil Tank

Huangdao water sealed underground oil tank, which lies in Qingdao, Shandong province, is one of strategic reservoir of oil in China. Targeting at a real pragmatic problem that sometimes the rock mass integrity index is more than 1 and taking Huangdao water sealed underground oil tank as an example, the rock sample wave velocity-stress relation tests are carried out. Then unloading index is put forward and formula of raock integrity index is modified so as to improve rock quality classification method. In the end, the improved rock quality classification method is applied to Huangdao water sealed underground oil tank engineering. The result shows that the quality of most rock masses here is level I or II.

Sediment redistribution due to a dense reservoir network in a large semi-arid Brazilian basin

This paper investigates for a 25-year period the sediment distribution in a semi-arid Brazilian basin (2 × 104 km2) with a network containing more than 4000 surface reservoirs. The methodology is based on rating curves and fitted parameters derived from field data. The results showed that suspended load corresponded to 70% of the total sediment yield (148 t km-2 year-1). The relatively low contribution of the suspended load (compared with other semi-arid regions) was attributed to the impact of the numerous upstream reservoirs, which retained 235 t km-2 year-1. The micro (<1 hm3), small (1–10 hm3), medium-sized (10–50 hm3), and large or strategic (>50 hm3) reservoirs responded to, respectively, 5, 17, 30 and 48% of the total sediment retention by the reservoir network. This indicates that retention in the non-strategic reservoirs has a positive impact on water availability, since siltation of the strategic reservoirs would be expected to more than double if only such reservoirs existed. Citation Lima Neto, I. E., Wiegand, M. C. & de Araújo, J. C. (2011) Sediment redistribution due to a dense reservoir network in a large semi-arid Brazilian basin. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(2), 319–333.

Profound Anti-HIV-1 Activity of DAPTA in Monocytes/macrophages and Inhibition of CCR5-mediated Apoptosis in Neuronal Cells

Monocytes/macrophages (M/M) are strategic reservoirs of HIV-1, spreading the virus to other cells and inducing apoptosis in T-lymphocytes, astrocytes and neurons. M/M are commonly infected by R5 HIV-1 strains, which use the chemokine receptor CCR5. D-Ala-peptide T-amide (DAPTA), or Peptide T, named for its high threonine content (ASTTTNYT), is a synthetic peptide comprised of eight amino acids (185-192) of the gp120 V2 region and functions as a viral entry inhibitor by targeting selectively CCR5. The anti-HIV-1 activity of DAPTA was evaluated in M/M infected with R5 HIV-1 strains. DAPTA at 10(-9) M inhibited HIV-1 replication in M/M by > 90%. PCR analysis of viral cDNA in M/M showed that DAPTA blocks HIV entry and in this way prevents HIV-1 infection. Moreover, DAPTA acts as a strong inhibitor and was more active than the non-peptidic CCR5 antagonist TAK-779 in inhibiting apoptosis (mediated by RS HIV-1 strains produced and released by infected M/M) on a neuroblastoma cell line. Our results suggest that antiviral compounds which interfere with receptor mechanisms such as CCR5 could be important, either alone or in combination with other antiretroviral treatments, in preventing HIV infection in the central nervous system and the consequential neuronal damage that leads to neuronal AIDS.

Technology Update: Drilling Simulation Is Method To Evaluate Incremental Options, Reduce Risk

As computing power has become more affordable and the E&amp;P industry's understanding of downhole drilling dynamics has improved, sophisticated simulation software has been developed to optimize drilling. Most drilling engineering analysis software has been based on using static analysis assuming steady-state conditions. Although useful, the end result was little more than a snapshot of anticipated forces. Advanced sensors in the bottomhole assembly (BHA) and improved surface sensors now provide digital measurements of weight on bit (WOB), rate of penetration (ROP), torque, and vibration as a function of time. As a result, it is possible to develop and validate more-complex and -accurate drilling models. Drilling simulation can now provide access to any one of the thousands of nodes presented by means of mesh software rather than by means of static analysis. The i-DRILL drilling simulation from Smith Technologies is an example of this functionality. The opportunity for detailed scrutiny of data leads to understanding normal, tangential, and axial loads that affect system behavior. Since the modeling is based upon the mechanical properties and dimensional data that represent the drillstring and the compressive strength and physical characteristics of the formations drilled, the results are specific to the application and are detailed in terms of what is required to improve performance. Within the virtual environment, the bit type/style, the individual BHA elements and their relative placement, the drillstring, the operating parameters, and the drive and/or steering mechanism (e.g., positive-displacement motor, rotary-steerable tool, turbodrill) can be varied to identify the optimum combination. Bit durability (dull condition), ROP, and stability are considered and weighted. For example, if in a deep well, long trip time is to be avoided at the expense of all other areas of investigation (ROP, vibration, or stability), these may become less important in determining the optimum system. Typically, problems previously encountered while drilling offset wells and other operator experience in the area lead the engineering team to the most important areas of investigation first. Bits and BHAs are methodically tested and retested through the virtual simulation regime, eliminating the poorer performers until the best match and highest normalized score are found. Once these elements are identified, the targets are quantified and weighted according to the economic and strategic (reservoir) project drivers. Once the "best" system is selected from all the options analyzed, dynamic simulations are prepared to visually compare the best vs. worst performance across a variety of drilling dynamics including torque, contact forces, and bending moments. This process works with optimization-matrix and weighting-factor methodology by eliminating guesswork, providing organized engineering data and calculations upon which results and interpretations are based, and providing the sensitivity plots that describe the relationships between ROP, lateral acceleration, and the surface-controlled WOB and rotational rate.

Multicriteria Decision-Making in Strategic Reservoir Planning

This article, written by Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 71413, "Multicriteria Decision-Making in Strategic Reservoir Planning Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process," by William E. Gerbacia, Chevron Overseas Petroleum Inc., and Hanaa Al-Shammari, Kuwait Oil Co., originally presented at the 2001 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, 30 September-3 October.