Climate Change Adaptation Technologies for Water

A practitioner’s guide to adaptation technologies for increased

water sector resilience
WATER ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGY BRIEF

Optimization of reservoir operations

Challenge: Too much water Adaptation response: Riverine flood protection

Description
Large water reservoirs often serve several purposes, such as for hydropower production, irrigation
control, flood-control, navigation and other flow regulation objectives. Reservoirs may include natural
water bodies such as lakes or man-made structures such as dams. Due to climate change, the
importance of reservoirs is likely to increase – not only for the water storage purposes, but also for
maximizing water use benefits and mitigating climate extremes.

Optimizing storage reservoir operations aims to ensure that all planned reservoir objectives are met,
without compromising those of ecological water requirements. It takes into account a variety of
objectives and variables, including cost and revenue considerations of water allocation for various
socioeconomic uses. Various computer simulation models can be used for optimization. The models use
algorithms to calculate the optimal balance between water release and reservoir storage volumes.

Implementation
The rationale behind optimizing reservoir operations is to to gain additional benefit and reduce risks
without making substantial changes to the existing water infrastructure. Desired objectives may include
reducing operational costs, but also improving response to increased climate variability (i.e. droughts
and floods). Optimization methods rely primarily on computer modelling tools such as hydrological
models and optimization models to assess and compare the performance and benefits of reservoir
operations under different scenarios. These may be long-term scenarios or real-time optimization
measures in response to rapid changes such as floods.

The models use historical data on factors influencing water balance and quality in the reservoirs (e.g.
seasonal weather data, water quality trends, water release history etc.) that are fed into the relevant
simulation models to run various scenarios. In addition, they may require real-time water level
monitoring and detailed weather forecasts for flood control purposes. They may consider not only water
availability, but also changes in demand as a response to changing climate conditions. There are
numerous optimization approaches and methods available that should be weighed depending on
resource availability and specific optimization objectives.

Examples of physical optimization interventions include installation of necessary sensors ( for water
quality), changes in management practices and response procedures, agricultural cultivation regulations
in the basin, scheduling changes in pumping and energy production, and changes to water distribution
systems.

Environmental Benefits
- Accounts for suitable water quality and quantity to meet environmental needs, considering the
environment as a key water user.
- Reduce ecological risks of water shortages and floods.

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Climate Change Adaptation Technologies for Water
A practitioner’s guide to adaptation technologies for increased
water sector resilience
WATER ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGY BRIEF

Socioeconomic Benefits
- Helps meet management goals with maximum benefit for all users.
- Helps better manage climate-induced water variability, and reduces economic activity risks (depending
on water releases).
- Reduces operational expenses and increases economic benefits of water use.

Opportunities and Barriers

Opportunities:

- Models are cost-effective and time-saving for monitoring and managing reservoirs compared to
response driven alternatives
- Increases operational cost efficiency and societal benefits where it is most needed and useful,
particularly during water shortages.

Barriers:

- Substantial expertise and reliable data are required to run and assess optimization models
- Measures may translate to trade-offs and restrictions to some user groups (for example during
droughts), creating potential economic losses.

Implementation considerations*
Technological maturity: 4-5
Initial investment: 2-5
Operational costs: 2-3
Implementation timeframe: 2-4

* This adaptation technology brief includes a general assessment of four dimensions relating to implementation of the
technology. It represents an indicative assessment scale of 1-5 as follows:
Technological maturity: 1 - in early stages of research and development, to 5 – fully mature and widely used
Initial investment: 1 – very low cost, to 5 – very high cost investment needed to implement technology
Operational costs: 1 – very low/no cost, to 5 – very high costs of operation and maintenance
Implementation timeframe: 1 – very quick to implement and reach desired capacity, to 5 – significant time investments needed
to establish and/or reach full capacity
This assessment is to be used as an indication only and is to be seen as relative to the other technologies included in this guide.
More specific costs and timelines are to be identified as relevant for the specific technology and geography.

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Climate Change Adaptation Technologies for Water
A practitioner’s guide to adaptation technologies for increased
water sector resilience
WATER ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGY BRIEF

Sources and further information

Ahmad, A., El-Shafie, A. and Razali, F. (2014). Reservoir Optimization in Water Resources: a Review.
Water Resource Management, 28, pp. 3391–3405.

Ahmadi, M., Haddad, O.B. and Loáiciga, H.A. (2015). Adaptive Reservoir Operation Rules Under Climatic
Change, Water Resources Management, March 2015, Volume 29, Issue 4, pp 1247–126

Castelletti, A., Yajima, H., Giuliani, M., Soncini-Sessa, R. and Weber, E. (2013). Planning the Optimal
Operation of a Multioutlet Water Reservoir with Water Quality and Quantity Targets. Journal of Water
Resources Planning and Management, Vol. 140, Issue 4. Available at:
http://ascelibrary.org/doi/full/10.1061/%28ASCE%29WR.1943-5452.0000348

Heydari, M., Othman, F. and Taghieh, M. (2016). Optimization of Multiple and Multipurpose Reservoir
System Operations by Using Matrix Structure (Case Study: Karun and Dez Reservoir Dams). PLoS ONE
11(6). Available at: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0156276

Mao, J., Zhang, P., Dai, L., Dai, H. and Hu, T. (2016). Optimal operation of a multi-reservoir system for
environmental water demand of a river-connected lake. Hydrology Research. Available at:
http://hr.iwaponline.com/content/ppiwahydrores/early/2016/06/13/nh.2016.043.full.pdf

Ngo, L.L. (2006). Optimising reservoir operation - A case study of the Hoa Binh reservoir, Vietnam.
Institute of Environment & Resources, Technical University of Denmark. Available at:
http://orbit.dtu.dk/fedora/objects/orbit:82215/datastreams/file_4684711/content

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