2.6.
Summary
65
2.6. Summary
In this chapter we have examined the preparation of a model of a water
resources system and examined the underlying assumptions that govern
the performance of the model. An appropriate time scale (the month) was
selected for the water flows, and a time scale of a year was selected for the
introduction of new projects. All the variables and parameters were restricted to be deterministic in order to simplify the model and to make it
possible to apply the optimization techniques described in Chapter 3.
The important features of the model that make a solution possible in a
reasonable amount of time are that essentially all of the constraints are
linear (though there are exceptions), and that the integer variables appear
only in the objective function and the budgetary constraints—not in the
dam revenue equation nor in the recreational, municipal, industrial, and
physical constraints placed on the river basin.
As discussed in Section 2.3.6, most of the significant features of a river
basin are included in the model, although some of the more nebulous factors and those for which realistic parameters are difficult to obtain have
been omitted. The major simplification has been the elimination of a bay
or estuary at the termination of the river and the elimination of water
quality factors. However, water quality is taken into consideration in
Chapter 6. In the next chapter we examine the strategy for optimizing
the model and provide the details of an algorithm that can be used to solve
the problem posed in this chapter in a reasonable amount of computer
time.
Summary
65
2.6. Summary
In this chapter we have examined the preparation of a model of a water
resources system and examined the underlying assumptions that govern
the performance of the model. An appropriate time scale (the month) was
selected for the water flows, and a time scale of a year was selected for the
introduction of new projects. All the variables and parameters were restricted to be deterministic in order to simplify the model and to make it
possible to apply the optimization techniques described in Chapter 3.
The important features of the model that make a solution possible in a
reasonable amount of time are that essentially all of the constraints are
linear (though there are exceptions), and that the integer variables appear
only in the objective function and the budgetary constraints—not in the
dam revenue equation nor in the recreational, municipal, industrial, and
physical constraints placed on the river basin.
As discussed in Section 2.3.6, most of the significant features of a river
basin are included in the model, although some of the more nebulous factors and those for which realistic parameters are difficult to obtain have
been omitted. The major simplification has been the elimination of a bay
or estuary at the termination of the river and the elimination of water
quality factors. However, water quality is taken into consideration in
Chapter 6. In the next chapter we examine the strategy for optimizing
the model and provide the details of an algorithm that can be used to solve
the problem posed in this chapter in a reasonable amount of computer
time.