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UBC Theses and Dissertations

A goal programming algorithm to incorporate the Columbia river non-power flow requirements in the Columbia River treaty model Mamun, Abdullah Al

Abstract

Canada built and operates three large dams and the U.S. built and operates one dam in the Columbia River based on the Columbia River Treaty (CRT) which was signed in 1961 and ratified in 1964. Annual Operating Plan developed by two Entities does not include non-power requirements, unless they are mutually agreed upon by both Entities. Supplemental Operating Agreements (SOA) have been negotiated and implemented since the 1990s to meet the U.S. and the Canadian power, fish, wildlife and/or recreation needs. The objective of this research was to develop a multi-objective optimization model to deal with multiple and conflicting objectives. The Columbia River Treaty Model (CRTM) developed by BC Hydro was modified by this research to incorporate three non-power requirements that are agreed upon by both Entities. The new model, which utilized the Goal Programming technique to solve the multi-objective reservoir optimization problem, was used to perform a number of case studies in order to investigate the impacts of incorporating different non-power requirements onto the BC Hydro system. Specific minimum outflow at the border in January affects the level of fulfillment of three non-power requirements. The first requirement is the Flow Augmentation requirement to aid in the downstream migration of Salmon in the U.S. The second requirement is the flow requirements below the Arrow reservoir to protect Whitefish eggs during the spawning and hatching periods. The third requirement is the specific flow requirement to provide enough water cover for the Trout spawning downstream of Arrow. The model uses three prioritized objectives of which the Flow Augmentation and Whitefish are of highest priority followed by the Trout Spawning and the maximization of BC Hydro revenues. Four Arrow minimum flow scenarios were compared with the Treaty operation. The study results show that lowering the minimum Arrow flow limit in January increases the satisfaction level of the Flow Augmentation and Whitefish non-power requirements. However, it may be in conflict with the power requirement of meeting Pacific North-west winter peak loads. Unless additional flow is required for Flow Augmentation during April, it has no effect on Trout spawning.

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