Reservoir Operation Management with New Multi-Objective (MOEPO) and Metaheuristic (EPO) Algorithms

Abstract

Dam reservoir operation plays a fundamental role in water management studies and planning. This study examined three policies to improve the performance of reservoirs: Standard Operation Policy (SOP), Hedging Rule (HR) and Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO). The objective functions were to minimize the LSR (Long-term Shortage Ratio) for HR and to minimize MAE (Mean Absolute Errors of released water) for SOP. MOO’s objective function was to reduce vulnerability and maximize reliability indexes. The research was conducted in two time periods (1985–2005 and 2025–2045). Combining EPO (Empire Penguin Optimization) algorithm and Gene Expression Programming (GEP) with elementary arithmetic (EOPba) and logical operators (EPOad) modified HR and SOP policies. Multi-Objective EPO (MPOEPO) and GEP with trigonometric functions were used to create a multi-objective policies formula. The results showed that the generation of the operation rules with EPOad increased the dam reservoir Performance Indexes (Vulnerability and Reliability Indexes) compared to EPOba. Moreover, HR application compared to SOP improves the mean dam reservoir’s Performance Indexes by about 12 and 33% in the baseline and 12 and 21% in the future period (climate change conditions), respectively. The MOO method (MOEPO) improved the Vulnerability and Reliability Indexes by about 36 and 25% in the baseline and by 31 and 26% in the future, respectively, compared to SOP.