Application of goal programming techniques for optimal reservoir operations

The optimal reservoir operations problem consists of obtaining releases, storages of a reservoir and downstream reach routed flows such that benefits derived from operating the reservoir are maximized. These are obtained on the basis of forecasted inflows to the reservoir, and forecasted precipitation in the downstream reaches. Five goal programming schemes, namely (i) preemptive goal programming (ii) weighted goal programming (iii) minmax goal programming (iv) fuzzy goal programming and (v) interval goal programming are considered. The reservoir operation problem is also formulated as a multiobjective linear program (MOLP). It is shown that the optimal solutions of the goal programs are contained among the efficient points of the MOLP. It is also shown that the min max and fuzzy goal programs can yield inefficient points as optima; however, there exist alternate optima to these programs which are efficient. Therefore, it is suggested that one should solve an MOLP for considering alternative efficient solutions. These techniques are applied to the Green River basin system in Kentucky.