Multiobjective Optimal Operation of Reservoirs Based on Water Supply, Power Generation, and River Ecosystem with a New Water Resource Allocation Model

A multiobjective water resource allocation model (GWAS) was constructed to incorporate the objectives of socioeconomic water use, power generation, and river ecological flow. The new model can simulate both rule-based operating schemes and optimized operating schemes for reservoirs with two kinds of solving algorithms and was applied to the Fuhe River basin. Fifteen socioeconomic water use units, 23 ecological flow control sections in the river channel, and 22 reservoirs were considered in the case study. The advantages and disadvantages of each rule-based operating scheme and the global optimization were compared under four computational schemes with the GWAS model. The competitive relationship among socioeconomic water use, power generation, and ecological water use under empirical rules, and the global optimal operation, were revealed. The GWAS model is an improvement of the traditional water resource allocation model and enables managers to compare empirical rule-based schemes and form a better, globally-optimized scheme.