Evaluation of a “Reliability programming” reservoir model

A recent series of papers presented a “reliability programming” formulation of reservoir design and operating problems. The algorithms employ a chance‐constrained formulation of reservoir operating constraints and system objectives, but avoid the use of linear decision rules. Examination of the reliability programming formulation of the reservoir management problem reveals that the reservoir model employs a very restrictive operating policy. In a numerical example the reliability programming model's constraints overestimated reservoir capacity requirements by an order of magnitude. The basic reliability programming formulation of reservoir management issues is also questioned.