Multilayer control hierarchy for water management decisions in integrated hydrologic simulation model

The regional simulation model (RSM) is a conjunctive groundwater surface-water hydrological model under development at the South Florida Water Management District. The model is designed to allow a flexible, extensible expression of a wide variety of natural hydrologic processes, as well as anthropogenic water resource control schemes in order to facilitate alternative management scenario evaluations. The management module of the RSM is the management simulation engine (MSE). The MSE is based on a multilayer hierarchical control architecture, which naturally encompasses the local control of hydraulic structures, as well as the coordinated subregional and regional control of multiple structures. MSE emphasizes independent abstraction of hydrological state information and managerial decision algorithms, facilitating the interoperation and compatibility of diverse management algorithms. The MSE architecture is described in this paper.