Status of Optimization Models for the Operation of Multireservoir Systems with Stochastic Inflows and Nonseparable Benefits

摘要

This is a report assessing the status of a class of optimization models designed to aid in the planning and operation of water resource systems. Four characteristics of reservoir systems that such models should incorporate are identified: multiple reservoirs (in arbitrary topological configuration), multiple time-periods, stochastic inflows, and nonseparable benefit functions. One hundred existing mathematical models of reservoir systems are also identified, but none can handle the four characteristics effectively. The crux of this negative assessment of the water resources literature is the incompatibility of stochastic inflows and nonseparable benefits.