A simulation-optimization system for evaluating flood management and environmental flow supply by reservoirs

The present study proposes and evaluates an applicable simulation-optimization framework for simulating and evaluating flood management and environmental flow supply by the reservoirs that was applied in the Australian tropical regions as the case study. 2D hydraulic modeling was utilized to simulate inundation area to develop inundation area function. Furthermore, minimum environmental flow regime and target of the environmental flow regime were defined based on the historical flow data in the optimization model of the reservoir operation. Different evolutionary algorithms were applied to optimize reservoir operation. Moreover, different indices were used to measure the performance of the optimization model. Based on the results in the case study, management of the flood damage and environmental flow is a serious challenge in the Australian tropical region that needs an optimal operation. The genetic algorithm was the best method to optimize reservoir operation based on the outputs of the decision-making system. The main application of the proposed framework for all case studies is simulation of the optimal operation in the past periods to get lessons for improvement of the operation in the future period. Moreover, coupling the proposed framework with the climate change models might be helpful to project the future challenges of the flood damage and environmental flow management.