Adaption to water shortage through the implementation of a unique pipeline system in Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Barton, Andrew , Bagirov, Adil , McRae-Williams, Pamela , Caris, Rob , Jackson, Peter
- Date: 2010
- Type: Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at Hydropredict' 2010, 2nd International Interdisciplinary Conference on predications for Hydrology, Ecology, and Water Resources Management
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- Description: Abstract Water resource development has played a crucial role in the Grampians, Wimmera and Mallee regions of Australia, with the main source of surface water located in several reservoirs in the Grampians mountain ranges. Historically, water was delivered by gravity through a vast 19 500 km earthen channel system from the reservoirs to the townships and farms. As a result of the severe and protracted drought experienced in the region over the past 13 years and the projected drying climate, there have been fundamental changes made to the management of water in order to better cope with water scarcity. The primary strategic effort to sustainably manage water resources was by removing the unsustainable transport of water via the open channels which resulted in very high losses through seepage and evaporation. This inefficient system has been replaced by a pressurised pipeline, the largest geographical water infrastructure project of its type in Australia, spreading across an area of approximately 20 000 km2. To manage the change in water balance as a result of the pipeline and drying climate, the regions water corporations and environmental agencies have designed a scheme for water allocations intended to sustain local communities, allow for regional development and improve environmental conditions. This paper describes the unique pipeline system recently completed, provides a brief summary of water sharing arrangements and introduces the research program currently underway to optimise the performance of the pipeline system.
Groundwater flows & groundwater - surface water interactions in the Corangamite CMA region
- Authors: Dahlhaus, Peter , Barton, Andrew , Cox, Jim , Herczeg, Annette
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Regolith 2006: Consolidation and Dispersion of Ideas Chapter p. 377-384
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- Description: The Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CMA) region occupies an area of 13,340 km2 in southwestern Victoria, and consists of four major river basins, namely Moorrabool River, Barwon River, Lake Corangamite and Otway Coast. The region is of high economic value to the State with much of the land supporting agricultural and forestry industries.
- Description: B1
- Description: 2003002067
Optimisation of operations of a water distribution system for reduced power usage
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Ugon, Julien , Barton, Andrew , Briggs, Steven
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 9th National Conference on Hydraulics in Water Engineering: Hydraulics 2008, Darwin, Northern Territory : 22nd-26th September 2008
- Full Text: false
- Description: There are many improvements to operation that can be made to a water distribution system once it has been constructed and placed in ground. Pipes and associated storages and pumps are typically designed to meet average peak daily demands, offer some capacity for growth, and also allow for some deterioration of performance over time. However, the 'as constructed' performance of the pipeline is invariably different to what was designed on paper, and this is particularly so for anything other than design flows, such as during times of water restrictions when there are significantly reduced flows. Because of this, there remain significant benefits to owners and operators for the adaptive and global optimisation of such systems. The present paper uses the Ouyen subsystem of the Northern Mallee Pipeline, in Victoria, as a case study for the development of an optimisation model. This has been done with the intent of using this model to reduce costs and provide better service to customers on this system. The Ouyen subsystem consists of 1600 km of trunk and distribution pipeline servicing an area of 456,000 Ha. The system includes 2 fixed speed pumps diverting water from the Murray River at Liparoo into two 150 ML balancing storages at Ouyen, 4 variable speed pumps feeding water from the balancing storages into the pipeline system, 2 variable speed pressure booster pumps and 5 town balancing storages. When considering all these components of the system, power consumption becomes an important part of the overall operation. The present paper considers a global optimisation model to minimise power consumption while maintaining reasonable performance of the system. The main components of the model are described including the network structure and the costs functions associated with the system. The final model presents the cost functions associated with the pump scheduling, including the penalties descriptions associated with maintaining appropriate storages levels and pressure bounds within the water distribution network.
- Description: 2003006758
Multi-model ensemble approach for staristically downscaling general circulation model outputs to precipitation
- Authors: Sachindra, Dhanapala , Huang, Fuchun , Barton, Andrew , Perera, Bimalka
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society Vol. 140, no. 681 (2013), p. 1161-1178
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Two statistical downscaling models were developed for downscaling monthly General Circulation Model (GCM) outputs to precipitation at a site in north-western Victoria, Australia. The first downscaling model was calibrated and validated with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis outputs over the periods of 1950–1989 and 1990–2010 respectively. The projections of precipitation into the future were produced by introducing the outputs of HadCM3, ECHAM5, GFDL2.0 and GFDL2.1, pertaining to A2 and B1 greenhouse gas emission scenarios to this downscaling model. In this model, the input data used in the development and future projections are not homogeneous, as they originate from two different sources. As a solution to this issue, the second downscaling model was developed and precipitation projections into the future were produced with a homogeneous set of inputs. To produce a homogeneous set of inputs to this model, regression relationships were formulated between the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis outputs and the twentieth-century climate experiment outputs corresponding to the variables used in the first downscaling model obtained from the ensemble consisting of HadCM3, ECHAM5 and GFDL2.0. The outputs of these relationships pertaining to the periods of 1950–1989 and 1990–1999 were used for the calibration and validation of this downscaling model respectively. Using the outputs of HadCM3, ECHAM5 and GFDL2.0 pertaining to A2 and B1 emission scenarios on these relationships, inputs for the second downscaling model pertaining to the period of 2000–2099 were generated. The first downscaling model withNCEP/NCARreanalysis outputs showed a highNash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.75 over the period 1950–1999. When this downscaling model was run with the twentieth-century climate experiment outputs of HadCM3, ECHAM5, GFDL2.0 and GFDL2.1, it exhibited limited performances over the period 1950–1999, which was indicated by relatively lowNSEs of−0.62,−2.54,−0.40 and−0.48 respectively. The second downscaling model displayed an NSE of 0.35 over the period 1950–1999.
Securing water supply in Western Victoria through the implementation of regional pipeline systems
- Authors: Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Barton, Andrew , Briggs, Steven
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Pipes, Ponds and People: Adaptive water management in drylands p. 43-76
- Full Text: false
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A novel approach to optimal pump scheduling in water distribution systems
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Barton, Andrew , Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Al Nuaimat, Alia , Ahmed, S. T. , Sultanova, Nargiz , Yearwood, John
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 14th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Conference 2012, WDSA 2012 Vol. 1; Adelaide, Australia; 24th-27th September; p. 618-631
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0990908
- Full Text: false
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- Description: The operation of a water distribution system is a complex task which involves scheduling of pumps, regulating water levels of storages, and providing satisfactory water quality to customers at required flow and pressure. Pump scheduling is one of the most important tasks of the operation of a water distribution system as it represents the major part of its operating costs. In this paper, a novel approach for modeling of pump scheduling to minimize energy consumption by pumps is introduced which uses pump's start/end run times as continuous variables. This is different from other approaches where binary integer variables for each hour are typically used which is considered very impractical from an operational perspective. The problem is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem and a new algorithm is developed for its solution. This algorithm is based on the combination of the grid search with the Hooke-Jeeves pattern search method. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using literature test problems applying the hydraulic simulation model EPANet.
- Description: E1
Identification of five bryozoan species in the Northern Mallee Pipeline, Australia
- Authors: Mitra, Robin , Barton, Andrew , Briggs, Steven , Orbell, John
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: New Zealand Journal of Zoology Vol. 40, no. 2 (June 2013), p. 81-92
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Five species of freshwater bryozoans were identified in the Northern Mallee Pipeline (NMP) system in Victoria, Australia, from statoblast morphology using scanning electron microscopy. The five species were Plumatella emarginata, Fredericella australiensis, Plumatella reticulata, Rumarcanella minuta and Fredericella sultana. The latter three of these have never previously been reported as occurring on the Australian continent and samples have been preserved for safekeeping at Victoria University. The statoblasts were isolated from samples collected as intact colonies from filters and membranes at a number of different locations.
Optimal operation of a multi-quality water distribution system with changing turbidity and salinity levels in source reservoirs
- Authors: Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Barton, Andrew , Bagirov, Adil
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0990908
- Relation: 16th International Conference on Water Distribution System Analysis, WDSA 2014; Bari, Italy; 14th-17th July 2014
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- Description: Impact of water quality conditions in sources on the optimal operation of a regional multiquality water distribution system is analysed. Three operational objectives are concurrently minimised, being pump energy costs, turbidity and salinity deviations at customer nodes. The optimisation problem is solved using GANetXL (NSGA-II) linked with EPANet. The example network incorporates scenarios with different water quality in sources. It was discovered that two types of tradeoffs, competing and non-competing, exist between the objectives and that the type of tradeoff is not unique between a particular pair of objectives across scenarios. The findings may be used for system operational planning.
Comparison of metaheuristic algorithms for pump operation optimization
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Ahmed, S. T. , Barton, Andrew , Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Al Nuaimat, Alia , Sultanova, Nargiz
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 14th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Conference 2012, WDSA 2012 Vol. 2; Adelaide, Australia; 24th-27th September 2012; p. 886-896
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0990908
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Pumping cost constitutes the main part of the overall operating cost of water distribution systems. There are different optimization formulations of the pumping cost minimization problem including those with application of continuous and integer programming approaches. To date mainly various metaheuristics have been applied to solve this problem. However, the comprehensive comparison of those metaheuristics has not been done. Such a comparison is important to identify strengths and weaknesses of different algorithms which reflects on their performance. In this paper, we present a methodology for comparative analysis of widely used metaheuristics for solving the pumping cost minimization problem. This methodology includes the following comparison criteria: (a) the "optimal solution" obtained; (b) the efficiency; and (c) robustness. Algorithms applied are: particle swarm optimization, artificial bee colony and firefly algorithms. These algorithms were applied to one test problem available in the literature. The results obtained demonstrate that the artificial bee colony is the most robust and the firefly is the most efficient and accurate algorithm for this test problem. Funding :ARC
Configuring consumptive water transfers for ecolgical benefit: An algal response model for water resource operations
- Authors: Atazadeh, Islam , Mills, Keely , Barton, Andrew , Gell, Peter
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium
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Pumping costs and water quality in the battlefield of optimal operation of water distribution networks
- Authors: Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Bagirov, Adil , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Proceedings of the 35th IAHR World Congress
- Full Text: false
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Coping with severe drought : Stories from the front line
- Authors: Barton, Andrew , Briggs, Steven , McRae-Williams, Pamela , Prior, Darcy
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Water Resources Vol. 15, no. 1 (2011), p. 21-32
- Full Text: false
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- Description: The last 12 years has seen extreme drought in western Victoria. This has impacted on the area in many ways, but none more so than in the provision of basic water supplies to people. To meet the challenge of drought, headworks storages have had to be operated at record low levels, severe water restrictions imposed, water carting programs established, alternative sources of water, and new technologies developed and used. Significant changes have also been made to the water supply infrastructure in the region, most notably the Northern-Mallee and Wimmera-Mallee Pipelines. This paper relates the story of how water resources were managed and bulk water was delivered to around 70,000 customers over a geographic spread of 62,000 km2, or about 30% of Victoria. Discussion on the social, environmental and economic impacts on the region are also provided. © Institution of Engineers Australia, 2011.
An algorithm for minimization of pumping costs in water distribution systems using a novel approach to pump scheduling
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Barton, Andrew , Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Al Nuaimat, Alia , Ahmed, S. T. , Sultanova, Nargiz , Yearwood, John
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Mathematical and Computer Modelling Vol. 57, no. 3-4 (2013), p. 873-886
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0990908
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The operation of a water distribution system is a complex task which involves scheduling of pumps, regulating water levels of storages, and providing satisfactory water quality to customers at required flow and pressure. Pump scheduling is one of the most important tasks of the operation of a water distribution system as it represents the major part of its operating costs. In this paper, a novel approach for modeling of explicit pump scheduling to minimize energy consumption by pumps is introduced which uses the pump start/end run times as continuous variables, and binary integer variables to describe the pump status at the beginning of the scheduling period. This is different from other approaches where binary integer variables for each hour are typically used, which is considered very impractical from an operational perspective. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem, and a new algorithm is developed for its solution. This algorithm is based on the combination of the grid search with the Hooke-Jeeves pattern search method. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using literature test problems applying the hydraulic simulation model EPANet. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
- Description: 2003010583
Statistical downscaling of general circulation model outputs to precipitation-part 2 : Bias-correction and future projections
- Authors: Sachindra, Dhanapala , Huang, Fuchun , Barton, Andrew , Perera, Bimalka
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Climatology Vol. 34, no. 11 (2014), p. 3282-3303
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- Description: This article is the second of a series of two articles. In the first article, two models were developed with National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis and HadCM3 outputs, for statistically downscaling these outputs to monthly precipitation at a site in north-western Victoria, Australia. In that study, it was seen that the downscaling model developed with NCEP/NCAR reanalysis outputs performs much better than the model developed with HadCM3 outputs. Furthermore, it was found that there is large bias in HadCM3 outputs which needs to be corrected. In this article, the downscaling model developed with NCEP/NCAR reanalysis outputs was used to downscale HadCM3 20th century climate experiment outputs to monthly precipitation over the period 1950-1999. In all four seasons, the precipitation downscaled with HadCM3 20th century outputs, displayed a large scatter and the majority of precipitation was overestimated. The precipitation downscaled with HadCM3 outputs was bias-corrected against the observed precipitation pertaining to the period 1950-1999, using three techniques: (1) equidistant quantile mapping (EDQM), (2) monthly bias-correction (MBC) and (3) nested bias-correction (NBC). Although all these bias-correction techniques were able to adequately correct the statistics of downscaled precipitation, the magnitude of the scatter of precipitation remained almost the same. Considering the performances and its ability to correct the cumulative distribution of precipitation, EDQM was selected for the bias-correction of future precipitation projections. HadCM3 outputs for the A2 and B1 greenhouse gas scenarios were introduced to the downscaling model and the downscaled precipitation for the period 2000-2099 was bias-corrected with the EDQM technique. Both A2 and B1 scenarios indicated a rise in the average of future precipitation in winter and a drop in it in summer and spring. These scenarios showed an increase in the maximum monthly precipitation in all seasons and an increase in percentage of months with zero precipitation in summer, autumn and spring. © 2014 Royal Meteorological Society
Statistical downscaling of General Circulation Model outputs to catchment streamflows
- Authors: Sachindra, Dhanapala , Huang, Fuchun , Barton, Andrew , Perera, Bimalka
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: MODSIM 2011 - 19th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation - Sustaining Our Future: Understanding and Living with Uncertainty p. 2810-2816
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- Description: Since the latter half of the 20th century, many regions of Australia experienced a drop in average rainfall, causing low inflows to reservoirs. Until the recent heavy rainfalls of late 2010 and early 2011, Victoria suffered a severe drought commencing 1997. This resulted in a reduction of annual average inflows to Melbourne's main water supply reservoirs of about 38%, during the period 1997-2008. The Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water (GWMWater) supply system in north-western Victoria also experienced a drop in annual inflows to its reservoirs of about 75%, from the long term average since 1997. Already being the driest inhabited continent in the world, this drop in inflows to reservoirs was of significant concern to water managers across much of Australia. Such a significant deviation from the long term average highlights the importance of being able to reliably predict streamflows considering the likely future climate change and variability, which will ultimately aid in future planning of the water supply systems. General Circulation Models (GCMs) are the most advanced tools available for the simulation of future climate. However, the coarse spatial resolution of GCMs does not allow for hydroclimatic predictions at the catchment scale. Indeed, they are incapable of producing outputs at the fine spatial resolution needed for most hydrological studies. To address this issue, downscaling methods have been developed, which link coarse resolution GCM outputs to surface hydroclimatic variables at finer resolutions. Downscaling techniques are broadly classified as either dynamic or statistical. The computation cost associated with dynamic downscaling methods is much higher than that of statistical downscaling. Another major drawback of dynamic downscaling models is their high complexity. The aim of the present study was to develop a model capable of statistically downscaling monthly GCM outputs to catchment scale monthly streamflows, accounting for the climate change. The current study investigated only the calibration and validation of the abovementioned statistical downscaling model. This was demonstrated through a case study applied to the GWMWater supply system in north-western Victoria, Australia. It is a large scale complex multi-reservoir system that is operated to meet a range of economic, social, and environmental interests. Support Vector Machine (SVM), a statistical downscaling technique, was used in the current streamflow downscaling exercise. The selection of SVM for downscaling was based on its better capability in capturing complex non-linear relationships between GCM outputs and catchment level variables, than artificial neural networks (ANN) and multi-linear regression (MLR), as observed in the past studies. National Center for Environmental Predictions/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data and observed streamflow data, over the study area, were used for the calibration and verification of the downscaling models. The model calibration (1950-1989) and validation (1990-2010) were performed on each calendar month separately and later results were aggregated to produce the time series of prediction. It was found that, the model was able to produce better predictions over the summer and winter months than in autumn and spring. The model tended to over predict the peaks of streamflows particularly after the 1997 drought in Victoria. It was further observed that the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis variables used in the study did not show a clear change corresponding to the drop in streamflow observed after 1997. The problems associated with the method over the recent severe drought have revealed important information to enable improvements for future model work. Downscaling streamflows from the GCMs skips complex hydrologic modelling, saves time and effort in predicting streamflows. Also, the current work in downscaling streamflows from GCM outputs is believed to be the first in Australia. The present research employed downscaling models based on the 12 calendar months enabling a better capture of streamflow characteristics, unlike the models based on seasons used in the past studies.
Pipes, Ponds and people: Adaptive water management in drylands
- Authors: Graymore, Michelle , McRae-Williams, Pamela , Barton, Andrew , Lehmann, La Vergne
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Book
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Water is a scarce resource around the world, but particularly in dryland regions of Australia where droughts and the impact of climate change have dramatically reduced water availability. For communities living in dryland areas, and for global food security, this is a critical issue. This book contains case studies of innovative applied research for adaptive water management in the dryland regions of Australia. Each of these studies tells a story of an approach to adaptive water management that not only provides solutions to the water scarcity challenges in dryland areas, but also helps sustainability of regional communities around this issue.
Morphology, ecology and biogeography of Stauroneis pachycephala P.T. Cleve (Bacillariophyta) and its transfer to the genus Envekadea
- Authors: Atazadeh, Islam , Edlund, Mark , Van Der Vijver, Bart , Mills, Keely , Spaulding, Sarah , Gell, Peter , Crawford, Simon , Barton, Andrew , Lee, Sylvia , Smith, Kathryn , Newall, Peter , Potapova, Maria
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Diatom Research Vol. 29, no. 4 (2014), p. 455-464
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Stauroneis pachycephala was described in 1881 from the Baakens River, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Recently, it was found during surveys of the MacKenzie River (Victoria, Australia), the Florida Everglades (USA) and coastal marshes of Louisiana (USA). The morphology, ecology and geographic distribution of this species are described in this article. This naviculoid species is characterised by lanceolate valves with a gibbous centre, a sigmoid raphe, an axial area narrowing toward the valve ends, and capitate valve apices. The central area is a distinct stauros that is slightly widened near the valve margin. The raphe is straight and filiform, and the terminal raphe fissures are strongly deflected in opposite directions. Striae are fine and radiate in the middle of the valve, becoming parallel and eventually convergent toward the valve ends. The external surface of the valves and copulae is smooth and lacks ornamentation. We also examined the type material of S. pachycephala. Our observations show this species has morphological characteristics that fit within the genus Envekadea. Therefore, the transfer of S. pachycephala to Envekadea is proposed and a lectotype is designated.
- Description: C1
Development of hydraulic models for a complex and large scale water distribution system in regional Australia
- Authors: Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Schwarz, S. , Barton, Andrew , Le Roux, S , Smalley, P. , Gerke, S.
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Full Text: false
- Description: Hydraulic simulation models have become a valuable tool to manage water distribution networks commencing from their initial design through their operation, assessment of the level of service to customers, system performance improvement, analysis of planning alternatives, to system optimisation. The development of hydraulic models can be a time consuming task with complex and large scale water distribution networks being particularly challenging. The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline (WMP) in Western Victoria, Australia is a recently constructed and unique regional scale water distribution system which consists of over 8,800 km of pressurised pipelines spreading across an area of approximately 20,000 km 2. Currently, the WMP provides water to 34 townships, rural farms and other water users across the Wimmera Mallee region with an annual design capacity of 31.6 mil. m 3. The WMP sources its water from multiple reservoirs in the Grampians mountain ranges in the south and the River Murray in the north. Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water (GWMWater) is the local water organisation responsible for managing the WMP. GWMWater is currently initiating the development of a water market to generate and support growth, and to ensure that water is available for the highest value social, economic or environmental use. The hydraulic models discussed in this paper will assure that informed decisions are made by GWMWater regarding the capacity to deliver water through the pipeline system, and therefore the extent of trade by customers. The philosophy for development of the WMP hydraulic models was to replicate the real system as credibly as possible into the level of required accuracy for decision making, yet enable simple model operation, maintenance and update. The network is modelled to the individual customer level in order to accommodate small diameter pipes. Modelling at this level simplifies the future model maintenance and updates, and also ensures the compatibility with other GWMWater's systems such as Geographic Information System (GIS) and the customer database. A major part of the model development consisted of data preparation. This was undertaken by using "as constructed" GIS asset data captured during the WMP construction and entered into a GIS database (ArcGIS by ESRI). Due to the scale of the system and associated amounts of data, it was essential to develop sophisticated data transformation and validation procedures to simplify the model build which thereby minimised manual data entry and potential sources of errors. This paper focuses on the methodologies and techniques used in data preparation for hydraulic models and development of hydraulic models. An example is also provided of how the models will be used as a decision support tool in water supply and allocation planning.
Framework for multi-objective optimisation of the operation of water distribution networks including water quality
- Authors: Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Bagirov, Adil , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International conference on Hydroinformatics
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
A procedure for formulation of multi-objective optimisation problems in complex water resources systems
- Authors: Godoy, Walter , Barton, Andrew , Perera, Bimalka
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 19th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, Perth, Australia, 12th-16th December, 2011 pg. 4029-4035
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The recently completed Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project (WMPP) provides reticulated water to 36 towns and about 6000 farms across an area of approximately 2 million hectares in Western Victoria (Australia). This new pipeline has replaced an open channel distribution system and has vastly improved efficiencies in the supply of water, with water savings being returned to the environment, existing consumptive use and new development. One of the challenges for managers of these water recovery projects is to determine the most effective or optimal operational strategy to meet the needs of all water users. The study area supplies a subset of the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline and includes two separate river systems, namely the Glenelg River and the MacKenzie River which flow South-ward and North-ward from the Great Dividing Range respectively. Both river systems have their own unique environmental and socio-economic attributes which are indicative of those relating to the broader Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System. In Victoria, these often conflicting interests to water have traditionally been addressed through a consultative process supported by surface water simulation modelling. Simulation models attempt to represent all the major characteristics of a system and are therefore tailored to examine "what if?" scenarios. Whilst such models are highly effective in demonstrating the effect of changes in system operation, the modelling process is limited to finding one solution at a time for a given set of conditions. Moreover, such traditional approaches have been challenged by the need to develop sustainable water management plans which attempt to meet the need of all users by searching for the optimal operating rules. Optimisation models have also proven to be effective tools but unlike simulation models are characterised by a numeric search technique and are better suited to address "what should be?" questions. However, the lack of popularity in optimisation models has been due to the complexity in their development, computational effort, and subsequently the simplification in problem specification. In recent times there has been growing interest in linking optimisation techniques with simulation models in order to build on the strengths of both modelling approaches in the search for optimal solutions. The general structure of this combined modelling technique provides for an iterative process; simulation outputs are used to quantify the effect of candidate solutions which are in turn passed to the search engine to find optimal solutions. The aim of this study is to develop a generalised procedure for the formulation of multi-objective optimisation problems relating to multi-reservoir systems with complex operating rules. Importantly the procedure has been developed for problems that are intended to be solved using a combined optimisationsimulation modelling technique. For the present study, the procedure will be used to formulate a sample multi-objective problem for the optimisation of operation of the study area. The procedure is applied in case study form, detailing the various components of the problem, both in mathematical terms and also the necessary qualitative information derived from stakeholder participation. The outcomes of this paper demonstrate: • the importance of on-going stakeholder participation in providing higher level qualitative information as part of (a) the problem formulation process in order to explicitly account for all interests to water, and (b) the optimisation process in order to enable decision makers to make the necessary trade-offs between choosing one optimal solution over another; and • the need to systematically identify the relevant system operating rules that control the movement of water within the simulation model