By Timothy M. Magee, H. Morgan Goranflo and Suzanne H. Biddle, Proceedings of the Second Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, July 2002.

Abstract: RiverWare is a general software tool for modeling river basin operations developed at the Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES) at the University of Colorado, sponsored jointly by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation). RiverWare has several solution methodologies, and TVA has implemented two models that use RiverWare's optimization method followed by simulation of the optimal outflows: a 9-day model with 6-hour time steps and a 2-day model with an hourly time step.

We will present highlights from the mathematical framework, the software interface, and the model’s role in the larger scheduling process. The mathematical framework includes preemptive goal programming with a linear programming engine and piecewise-linear approximation of nonlinear functions. The software interface allows the schedulers to import and view data, modify a prioritized list of policy constraints, view and alter the optimal solution, and analyze how both physical constraints and policy constraints influenced the solution. The models are only part of a larger process that includes forecasts of hydrologic inflows, forecasts of the power market, special operations at reservoirs and reaches, and past operating experience.