Adaption to water shortage through the implementation of a unique pipeline system in Victoria, Australia
- Mala-Jetmarova, Helena, Barton, Andrew, Bagirov, Adil, McRae-Williams, Pamela, Caris, Rob, Jackson, Peter
- 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
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- 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 This inefficient system has been replaced by a pressurised pipeline, the largest geographical water infrastructure project of its type in Australia, spreading across an area of approximately 20 000 km2.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.
- 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
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- 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.
Optimisation of operations of a water distribution system for reduced power usage
- Bagirov, Adil, Ugon, Julien, Barton, Andrew, Briggs, Steven
- 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
A novel approach to optimal pump scheduling in water distribution systems
- Bagirov, Adil, Barton, Andrew, Mala-Jetmarova, Helena, Al Nuaimat, Alia, Ahmed, S. T., Sultanova, Nargiz, Yearwood, John
- 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
- 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 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
Comparison of metaheuristic algorithms for pump operation optimization
- Bagirov, Adil, Ahmed, S. T., Barton, Andrew, Mala-Jetmarova, Helena, Al Nuaimat, Alia, Sultanova, Nargiz
- 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
- Reviewed:
- 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
- Atazadeh, Islam, Mills, Keely, Barton, Andrew, Gell, Peter
- Authors: Atazadeh, Islam , Mills, Keely , Barton, Andrew , Gell, Peter
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Mala-Jetmarova, Helena, Bagirov, Adil, Barton, Andrew
- 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
- Reviewed:
Statistical downscaling of General Circulation Model outputs to catchment streamflows
- Sachindra, Dhanapala, Huang, Fuchun, Barton, Andrew, Perera, Bimalka
- 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
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- 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.
- Mala-Jetmarova, Helena, Bagirov, Adil, Barton, Andrew
- Authors: Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Bagirov, Adil , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International conference on Hydroinformatics
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Godoy, Walter, Barton, Andrew, Perera, Bimalka
- 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
- Godoy, Walter, Barton, Andrew, Perera, Bimalka
- Authors: Godoy, Walter , Barton, Andrew , Perera, Bimalka
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium 2012, Sydney ; 19-22 November 2012 published in Proceedings of the 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium p. 1281-1288
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Competing interests to water have traditionally been addressed through consultative processes often supported by surface water simulation modelling. 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. 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 modelling approach adopted for this study uses the Elitist Non-dominated Sorting Algorithm (NSGA-II) as the optimisation engine and the REource ALlocation Model (REALM) software as the simulation engine. This optimisationsimulation model is applied to the Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System which is a complex multireservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia). The aim of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of using an optimisation-simulation modelling approach to develop long-term optimal operating rules. A base case scenario representing the current operating regime is used as a reference point to compare the optimal operating rules produced by the modelling procedure. The results show that by changing certain rules within the current operating regime, the reliability of supply of environmental flows can be improved without affecting consumptive users' reliability of supply, in order to achieve globally optimal operating rules. © 2012 Engineers Australia.
- Description: Proceedings of the 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, HWRS 2012
Understanding deep aquifer responses to interseam materials of brown coal mines
- Rastogi, Sid, Barton, Andrew, Mackay, Rae, Kandra, Harpreet, Tolooiyan, Ali
- Authors: Rastogi, Sid , Barton, Andrew , Mackay, Rae , Kandra, Harpreet , Tolooiyan, Ali
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings , Conference paper
- Relation: 2018 Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium: Water and Communities, HWRS 2018; Melbourne, Australia; 3rd-6th December 2018 p. 711-722
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Brown coal deposits in the Latrobe Valley form part of the tertiary coal system of the Gippsland Basin, which is one of three major tertiary basins in Victoria, Australia. There are currently two operating brown coal mines in the Latrobe Valley (Yallourn and Loy Yang Mines) where coal is mined for power generation, with a third mine (Hazelwood) having recently ceased operations. An ongoing challenge in the mines is the management of geotechnical stability of the open pit batters. This includes the management of significant issues such as instability due to floor heave which is directly related to groundwater pressures of the underlying confined aquifers. The time dependent pressure distributions in the interseam layers are complex due to the complex heterogeneous stratigraphy of these layers. A model of the fine scale stratigraphy using Minescape has been developed to explore how pressure redistribution occurs and how the groundwater flow systems impact the interseam pore pressures due to pumping activity, leading to potential impacts on the mine batter movements. The objective of the preliminary groundwater modelling presented in this paper is to examine the hydraulic connectivity between the lower pumped aquifer layers and the upper sandy layers. The goal is to assess whether the connections are solely through vertical flows through the interbedded aquitard layers or whether there are lateral connections of the sandy layers that govern the vertical connections. A one-dimensional vertical flow model has been used for this purpose in conjunction with high quality groundwater head data from multiple depths in vertically sealed bores. The results suggest that the pressure redistributions vertically cannot be explained by vertical flows alone and that lateral exchange between layers is also occurring. This work will inform the next stage of modelling that will use the detailed stratigraphic modelling in three dimensions.
Issues associated with statistical downscaling of general circulation model outputs : A discussion
- Sachindra, Dhanapala, Huang, Fuchun, Barton, Andrew
- Authors: Sachindra, Dhanapala , Huang, Fuchun , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Water and Climate: Policy Implementation Challenges, Engineers Australia, 2012; published in Proceedings of the 2nd Practical Responses to Climate Change Conference pg. 98-105
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: General Circulation Models (GCMs), based on the laws of physics, are regarded as the best tools available for the prediction of global climate, hundreds of years into future. However, the coarse spatial resolutions of present day GCMs do not allow the direct use of their outputs in hydrologic studies at the catchment level. The gap between coarse resolution GCM outputs and fine resolution hydroclimatic data needed at the catchment level, is bridged either by dynamic or statistical downscaling. Statistical downscaling has gained popularity owing to its simplicity and low computational cost. Although statistical downscaling possesses these advantages, there are shortcomings associated with both, the methods and also the GCM outputs used as the main input to the downscaling models. The aim of this paper is to discuss some of the issues associated with statistical downscaling of GCM outputs to hydroclimatic variables at the catchment scale. The following issues are discussed in detail in the paper: (1)outputs from GCMs offer a limited degree of certainty, due to the lack of theoretical robustness and incomplete understanding of various atmospheric processes; (2) the presence of a number of Greenhouse Gas emission scenarios with equal likelihood of occurrence leads to scenario uncertainty; (3) the incorporation of various climate indices, such as Southern Oscillation Index or Indian Ocean Dipole, may seem to be a way of improving the results of a downscaling model, but the unavailability of climate indices for the future and the presence of variants of indices due to different definitions and calculation procedures limit their use; and (4)outputs of downscaling studies can also vary with the statistical downscaling technique employed. Although statistical downscaling faces above issues, still it is regarded as a potential method for predicting future catchment hydroclimatology, under changing climate. However, the outputs of statistical downscaling studies should be used sensibly in any catchment scale studies.
Statistical downscaling of general circulation model outputs to precipitation
- Sachindra, Dhanapala, Huang, Fuchun, Barton, Andrew, Perera, Bimalka
- Authors: Sachindra, Dhanapala , Huang, Fuchun , Barton, Andrew , Perera, Bimalka
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, HWRS 2012 p. 595-602
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Victoria suffered a severe drought over the period 1998-2007, when the annual average precipitation plunged by about 13% from the long term average. Precipitation is directly related to the availability of water resources in a catchment. Therefore it is useful to predict precipitation, particularly in light of any future climate change, which will help in the management of water resources at the catchment level. General Circulation Models (GCMs) are considered to be the most advanced tools available for simulating the future climate. Due to the coarse spatial resolution, however, GCM outputs cannot be used directly at the catchment scale. To overcome this problem statistical and dynamic downscaling techniques have been developed. Downscaling techniques link the coarse GCM outputs to catchment scale hydroclimatic variables. The present research has focussed on statistically downscaling monthly NCEP/NCAR reanalysis outputs to monthly precipitation at the catchment level. A precipitation station in the operational area of the Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water Corporation (GWMWater) in northwestern Victoria was considered as the case study. Multi-linear regression was used in the development of the downscaling models. This research employed separate downscaling models for each calendar month, with the intention of better capturing the seasonal variations of precipitation. A set of probable predictors were selected following the past literature and hydrology. Data for the probable predictors and precipitation were split into three 20 year time slices; 1950-1969, 1970-1989 and 1990-2010. The probable predictors which displayed the best statistically significant correlations consistently with precipitation over the three time slices and the whole period of the study were selected as potential predictors, for each calendar month. These potential predictors were introduced to the downscaling model one at a time based on the strength of the correlation, over the whole period of the study, until the model performance, in terms of Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), was maximised. This approach ensured the identification of the best potential predictor for each calendar month. In calibration and validation, the model displayed good performances with NSEs of 0.74 and 0.70 respectively. In calibration, the average precipitation was perfectly reproduced by the model and in validation it was slightly over-predicted. However, both in calibration and validation, the model tended to under-predict high precipitations and over-predict near-zero precipitations. A graphical comparison of observed precipitation, downscaling model reproduced precipitation and the Hadley Centre Coupled Model version 3 GCM (HadCM 3) simulated raw precipitation output, revealed that there is large bias in the HadCM 3 precipitation outputs. Therefore, before producing any future precipitation projections with the downscaling model, a bias correction to GCM outputs is prescribed.
- Godoy, Walter, Barton, Andrew, Perera, Bimalka
- Authors: Godoy, Walter , Barton, Andrew , Perera, Bimalka
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 36th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium : The art and science of water p. 1213-1220
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Water resources planning processes around the world are increasingly striving to incorporate sustainability principles in order to find optimal solutions to multi-criterial decision-making problems. The availability of sophisticated modelling techniques such as optimisation-simulation (O-S) models provide a proven approach to efficiently and effectively search for optimal solutions using trusted simulation models. However, optimisation problems in water resources planning are seldom represented using three or more objectives; the so called 'many-objective' multi-objective optimisation problems. Limiting problem dimensionality in this way simplifies visualisation of Pareto-optimal solutions, reduces computational effort, and simplifies the evaluation and interpretation of results. The aim of this study is to present a structured procedure for developing optimal operating plans for complex water resources systems using a combined multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach. The approach is applied to an 18-objective function MOOP which represents four broad categories relating to environmental, social, consumptive, and system-wide interests for water. The Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System (WMWSS) is a multi-reservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia) which is operated to meet a range of conflicting interests for water using complex operating rules. An O-S model is presented which uses the Elitist Non-dominated Sorting Algorithm (NSGA-II) as the optimisation engine and the REsource ALlocation Model (REALM) software as the simulation engine. This O-S model is applied to the WMWSS to search and evaluate candidate optimal operating plans over a 118-year period assuming historic hydro-climatic conditions. The resulting optimal operating plans are ranked in terms of their overall sustainability and compared to a known reference point or 'base case operating plan' which represents the status quo in operating rules for the WMWSS case study. The results show that the combined multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach is able to find optimal operating plans that are more sustainable than the base case operating plan.
- Authors: Barton, Andrew , Wilson, Kym
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings , Conference paper
- Relation: 2018 Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium: Water and Communities, HWRS 2018; Melbourne, Australia; 3rd-6th December 2018 p. 60-71
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper describes principles for the apportionment of water allocations to users of a multi-reservoir water supply system utilising a volume shared entitlement and allocation framework. The challenge of this problem is that volume shared systems determine the available water for allocation based on a total system approach. The subsequent operational challenge is to then apportion this total volume of available water to specific reservoirs to meet individual user requirements. This is an important problem as entitlement and allocation frameworks usually have the water resource assessment process and high-level water sharing principles enshrined in a set of legally binding orders and instruments. However, some systems still have a subsequent apportionment of allocation problem, not codified in any binding document, where decisions need to be made around how much allocation should be made available from particular reservoirs for the various stakeholders or user groups. In shared systems where contests over water is common, or access to allocation may vary over time, it is desirable that the agency responsible for making the resource decisions uses an objective, fair and equitable method of allocating water. To work through this problem and present the set of principles for apportionment, the Wimmera-Glenelg System located in western Victoria, Australia, is used as a case study. The Wimmera-Glenelg System is a complex water resource system with multiple reservoirs and many different user groups and stakeholders. The region is also subject to a highly variable climate with frequent dry periods and water rationing, creating periods of time where the equitable apportionment of allocation becomes incredibly important. Concepts of capacity sharing have been used to help with the development of the apportionment principles to help maximise the transparency in decision making to stakeholders and because the system does have an emerging water market where commercial and economic certainty is becoming paramount. However, capacity sharing for systems with multiple reservoirs is not common, and so even this has limitations in use. The principles described can be universally applied to reservoir systems of varying complexity, where there are multiple users, and is compatible with both capacity shared systems and newer continuous sharing or continuous accounting systems. Results are shown for the Wimmera-Glenelg System. © CURRAN-CONFERENCE. All rights reserved.
- Sargison, Jane, Barton, Andrew
- Authors: Sargison, Jane , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 9th National Conference on Hydraulics in Water Engineering: Hydraulics, Darwin, 23-26th September, 2008 p.73-79
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The Cressy-Longford Irrigation Scheme delivers irrigation water supply from the outfall of Poatina Tailrace on Tasmania's Central Highlands Hydroelectric Power Scheme, to the agricultural region surrounding the towns of Cressy and Longford in North Eastern Tasmania. The scheme delivers approximately 10 000 ML of water annually to a land district of 10 000 ha. The scheme consists of mostly open, earth lined channels, with sections of concrete lined channel, pipeline, culverts, drop pipes, and siphons or drop siphons where required for hydraulic design purposes or to provide road access and crossings. The system consists of over 100 km of channel and pipe, in a network of 17 distinct channel sections. The full system and its subcomponents have been modelled, using the generally available package, HEC-RAS, to model open channel sections, approximate pipe performance and to model the network operation under various scenarios. The performance of pipe and culvert sections was independently checked using spreadsheet analysis. The objective of the analysis was to determine the maximum capacity of the system in its current state; determine restrictions to the flow of water through the network; and to identify strategies to increase the capacity to deliver water by at least 30 %. The key restraints on the analysis were to ensure that any increased volume of water carried into the network could be safely discharged out of the network to adjoining natural watercourses in the event that irrigation was suddenly stopped and/or water input to the system increased, for example in the event of a sudden rainstorm. It was found that the system was currently underutilised, and that in most cases the culverts were capable of running full, which greatly increased the possible flow rates allowable in the system. Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter measurements in sections of the channel were used to verify modelled flow rates.
A weighted sustainability index for selection of optimal operating plans
- Godoy, W., Barton, Andrew, Perera, B., Szemis, J.
- Authors: Godoy, W. , Barton, Andrew , Perera, B. , Szemis, J.
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation: Managing Cumulative Risks through Model-Based Processes, MODSIM 2017 - Held jointly with the 25th National Conference of the Australian Society for Operations Research and the DST Group led Defence Operations Research Symposium, DORS 2017 p. 1378-1384
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project (WMPP) provides reticulated water to 36 towns and about 6000 farms across an area of approximately 2 million hectares and forms part of the Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System (WMWSS). The WMWSS is a multi-reservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia) which is operated to meet a range of conflicting interests for water using complex operating rules. Since completion in 2010, the pipeline has vastly improved efficiencies in the supply of water, with water savings being returned to the environment, existing consumptive use and new development. However, one of the major 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. 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 suited 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. 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. 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 process of selecting the most preferred optimal solution brings together two aspects of multi-objective optimisation, namely; (i) the quantitative characteristics of these solutions relative to other solutions; and (ii) the higher level qualitative information in the form of stakeholders’ preferences. The aim of this study is to incorporate stakeholder preferences into a sustainability index which has been previously used to evaluate and compare optimal operating plans for the WMWSS. In that previous study, Godoy et al. (2015) applied a multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach to an 18-objective function multi-objective optimisation problem (MOOP) which represented a range of interests for water. For the present study, the same interests are described in terms of three broad categories i.e. strong environmental preferences, strong social preferences, and strong preferences for the needs of consumptive users. A weighted sustainability index is presented which incorporates these preferences in the original sustainability index formulation. This weighted sustainability index is used to select preferred optimal operating plans previously found by the optimisation-simulation modelling. The results showed that the weighted sustainability index provided a simple means to incorporate stakeholders’ preferences into the selection process and inform the decision maker of a stakeholder’s uncertainty about their values and priorities for water. © 2017 Proceedings - 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, MODSIM 2017. All rights reserved.
- Authors: Godoy, W. , Barton, Andrew , Perera, B. , Szemis, J.
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation: Managing Cumulative Risks through Model-Based Processes, MODSIM 2017 - Held jointly with the 25th National Conference of the Australian Society for Operations Research and the DST Group led Defence Operations Research Symposium, DORS 2017 p. 1378-1384
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project (WMPP) provides reticulated water to 36 towns and about 6000 farms across an area of approximately 2 million hectares and forms part of the Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System (WMWSS). The WMWSS is a multi-reservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia) which is operated to meet a range of conflicting interests for water using complex operating rules. Since completion in 2010, the pipeline has vastly improved efficiencies in the supply of water, with water savings being returned to the environment, existing consumptive use and new development. However, one of the major 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. 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 suited 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. 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. 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 process of selecting the most preferred optimal solution brings together two aspects of multi-objective optimisation, namely; (i) the quantitative characteristics of these solutions relative to other solutions; and (ii) the higher level qualitative information in the form of stakeholders’ preferences. The aim of this study is to incorporate stakeholder preferences into a sustainability index which has been previously used to evaluate and compare optimal operating plans for the WMWSS. In that previous study, Godoy et al. (2015) applied a multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach to an 18-objective function multi-objective optimisation problem (MOOP) which represented a range of interests for water. For the present study, the same interests are described in terms of three broad categories i.e. strong environmental preferences, strong social preferences, and strong preferences for the needs of consumptive users. A weighted sustainability index is presented which incorporates these preferences in the original sustainability index formulation. This weighted sustainability index is used to select preferred optimal operating plans previously found by the optimisation-simulation modelling. The results showed that the weighted sustainability index provided a simple means to incorporate stakeholders’ preferences into the selection process and inform the decision maker of a stakeholder’s uncertainty about their values and priorities for water. © 2017 Proceedings - 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, MODSIM 2017. All rights reserved.
Testing the robustness of optimal operating plans under various future hydro-climatic scenarios
- Godoy, Walter, Barton, Andrew, Wilson, K., Perera, B.
- Authors: Godoy, Walter , Barton, Andrew , Wilson, K. , Perera, B.
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 2018 Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium: Water and Communities, HWRS 2018 p. 267-283
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- Description: A key challenge for water resources planning processes around the world is to develop operating plans that are optimal under a range of hydro-climatic conditions. The consequences of such long term planning decisions can vary in terms of the social, economic, and environmental impacts. Given these potential impacts, it is important that operating plans are tested under a range of hydro-climatic conditions to ensure that they are sufficiently robust to withstand future changes in climate. The aim of this study is to present a procedure for testing the robustness of optimal operating plans for complex water resources systems using a combined multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach. The approach embeds an optimisation-simulation (O-S) model which is applied to an 18-objective function multi-objective optimisation problem of the Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System (WMWSS). The WMWSS is a multi-reservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia) which is operated to meet a range of competing interests for water using complex operating rules. The O-S model is applied to the WMWSS to search for optimal operating plans over a 100-year period into the future assuming two plausible greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels. The two GHG emission scenarios represent lower and higher ends of the estimated range of projected GHG emissions, providing a wide range of future hydro-climatic conditions. A robustness test is used to evaluate the validity of the most sustainable optimal operating plans under the two GHG emmission scenarios and also those found previously under a historic hydro-climatic sequence. The test results show that the status quo or base case operating plan is optimal but is neither the highest nor the lowest in terms of the level of sustainability that could be achieved in the WMWSS, under historic and the higher GHG emission scenario. Moreover, the results show that the most sustainable optimal operating plans found under the three hydro-climatic scenarios are sufficiently robust to withstand the full range of hydro-climatic conditions considered whereas the base case operating plan is not as robust. The risks involved in the implementation of operating plans which exhibit large deviations from the base case operating plan are discussed. These risks highlight the importance of problem formulation and sensitivity analysis of the optimal operating plans in order to find real world solutions to real world problems. © CURRAN-CONFERENCE. All rights reserved.
- Authors: Godoy, Walter , Barton, Andrew , Wilson, K. , Perera, B.
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 2018 Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium: Water and Communities, HWRS 2018 p. 267-283
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A key challenge for water resources planning processes around the world is to develop operating plans that are optimal under a range of hydro-climatic conditions. The consequences of such long term planning decisions can vary in terms of the social, economic, and environmental impacts. Given these potential impacts, it is important that operating plans are tested under a range of hydro-climatic conditions to ensure that they are sufficiently robust to withstand future changes in climate. The aim of this study is to present a procedure for testing the robustness of optimal operating plans for complex water resources systems using a combined multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach. The approach embeds an optimisation-simulation (O-S) model which is applied to an 18-objective function multi-objective optimisation problem of the Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System (WMWSS). The WMWSS is a multi-reservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia) which is operated to meet a range of competing interests for water using complex operating rules. The O-S model is applied to the WMWSS to search for optimal operating plans over a 100-year period into the future assuming two plausible greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels. The two GHG emission scenarios represent lower and higher ends of the estimated range of projected GHG emissions, providing a wide range of future hydro-climatic conditions. A robustness test is used to evaluate the validity of the most sustainable optimal operating plans under the two GHG emmission scenarios and also those found previously under a historic hydro-climatic sequence. The test results show that the status quo or base case operating plan is optimal but is neither the highest nor the lowest in terms of the level of sustainability that could be achieved in the WMWSS, under historic and the higher GHG emission scenario. Moreover, the results show that the most sustainable optimal operating plans found under the three hydro-climatic scenarios are sufficiently robust to withstand the full range of hydro-climatic conditions considered whereas the base case operating plan is not as robust. The risks involved in the implementation of operating plans which exhibit large deviations from the base case operating plan are discussed. These risks highlight the importance of problem formulation and sensitivity analysis of the optimal operating plans in order to find real world solutions to real world problems. © CURRAN-CONFERENCE. All rights reserved.
Losing stormwater: 60 years of urbanisation and reduced downstream flow
- Ebbs, David, Dahlhaus, Peter, Barton, Andrew, Kandra, Harpreet
- Authors: Ebbs, David , Dahlhaus, Peter , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), 12-15 February 2018, Perth, Western Australia p. 142-151
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- Description: The potential for stormwater to supplement traditional water supplies from upstream catchments or groundwater is high, with claims that the quantity of additional runoff from impervious surfaces in a modern city in a temperate climate is greater than the total potable water demand. To ensure the success of Integrated Urban Water Management, it must consider the broad context of catchment management and the cumulative effect of all factors including river health. Ballarat, an inland city of approximately 100,000 people in south-eastern Australia, has many attributes necessary to potentially exploit stormwater. Given the doubling of population, tripling of residences and 90% increase in average residence size over the past 60 years, over which time flow data is available for the downstream waterway, it might be expected that the flow in the river downstream of the city within the catchment would reflect additional stormwater runoff. However, no increase in flow was detected between 1957 and 1996 while flow over the past 20 years has reduced by 60%. A water balance shows this decrease was not due to extractions as the stream has been a consistent net receiver of water from other catchments. Modelling data from the Australian Water Resources Assessment indicates that the reduction in streamflow is double what might be expected due to climatic variations. Between 1957 and 1996 there was no significant difference between modelled runoff and actual flow, however from 1997 onwards there is a significant divergence. While lower runoff may be expected during the period of drought, the rainfall-runoff relationship does not return to previous levels during latter years of rainfall. The effect is greater during higher flow months, which has significance when identifying potential additional water resources. Base flow has been reduced to the point where dry weather flow is reliant on waste water treatment plant and mine discharge. This study indicates that while impervious surfaces generate higher runoff which can cause environmental damage, making stormwater an attractive water source, consideration must be given to the impacts on the whole catchment when assessing alternative supply options.
- Authors: Ebbs, David , Dahlhaus, Peter , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), 12-15 February 2018, Perth, Western Australia p. 142-151
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The potential for stormwater to supplement traditional water supplies from upstream catchments or groundwater is high, with claims that the quantity of additional runoff from impervious surfaces in a modern city in a temperate climate is greater than the total potable water demand. To ensure the success of Integrated Urban Water Management, it must consider the broad context of catchment management and the cumulative effect of all factors including river health. Ballarat, an inland city of approximately 100,000 people in south-eastern Australia, has many attributes necessary to potentially exploit stormwater. Given the doubling of population, tripling of residences and 90% increase in average residence size over the past 60 years, over which time flow data is available for the downstream waterway, it might be expected that the flow in the river downstream of the city within the catchment would reflect additional stormwater runoff. However, no increase in flow was detected between 1957 and 1996 while flow over the past 20 years has reduced by 60%. A water balance shows this decrease was not due to extractions as the stream has been a consistent net receiver of water from other catchments. Modelling data from the Australian Water Resources Assessment indicates that the reduction in streamflow is double what might be expected due to climatic variations. Between 1957 and 1996 there was no significant difference between modelled runoff and actual flow, however from 1997 onwards there is a significant divergence. While lower runoff may be expected during the period of drought, the rainfall-runoff relationship does not return to previous levels during latter years of rainfall. The effect is greater during higher flow months, which has significance when identifying potential additional water resources. Base flow has been reduced to the point where dry weather flow is reliant on waste water treatment plant and mine discharge. This study indicates that while impervious surfaces generate higher runoff which can cause environmental damage, making stormwater an attractive water source, consideration must be given to the impacts on the whole catchment when assessing alternative supply options.
Regression modelling for prediction of clogging in non-vegetated stormwater filters
- Meade, Ben, Khorshidi, Hadi, Kandra, Harpreet, Barton, Andrew
- Authors: Meade, Ben , Khorshidi, Hadi , Kandra, Harpreet , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), 12-15 February 2018, Perth, Western Australia p. 8
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- Authors: Meade, Ben , Khorshidi, Hadi , Kandra, Harpreet , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), 12-15 February 2018, Perth, Western Australia p. 8
- Full Text:
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