The application of the water resources modeling platform from strategic planning through to operational control

Autor: S. J. L. Mallory, E.A. Pashkin, SJ van Vuuren
Rok vydání: 2008
Předmět:
Zdroj: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C. 33:919-925
ISSN: 1474-7065
DOI: 10.1016/j.pce.2008.06.042
Popis: The concepts of a water resources modeling approach which caters for the varying levels of modeling detail required for broad strategic planning through to the short-term operation of reservoirs have been described by Mallory and van Vuuren [Mallory, S.J.L., van Vuuren, S.J., 2007. Integration of water resources modelling approaches for varying levels of decision-making. In: Fourth International Conference on Water Resources Management. WITPress, Wessex, UK]. This paper addresses the application of this approach in practice on South Africa’s Algoa system, a complex and strategically important catchment within South Africa. The Algoa system was modeled, firstly in reconnaissance mode to gain a broad understanding of the water requirements and the available water resource, then in systems analysis mode to take into account the actual operating rules applied in the catchment, and thirdly in short-term operation mode, to determine when restrictions should be imposed in order to avoid catastrophic failure of the system. The conclusion reached in this paper that this multi-tiered modeling approach is a useful tool for enhancing the understanding of decision makers and stakeholders of how the water resources in a catchment are managed and offers a considerable improvement in terms of the time and effort expended on setting up, running and maintaining several models each supporting it own niche in the decision-making framework.
Databáze: OpenAIRE