Aquaplan project

We develop policy tools and instruments for planning and managing river basins.

• An integrated hydrologic-economic model based on an advanced stochastic optimization technique. The model integrates essential hydrologic, economic and institutional components of a river basin in order to explore both the hydrologic and economic consequences of various policy options. The mutistage decision making problem is solved using an algorithm that belongs to the so-called approximate dynamic programming field, which is a powerful class of algorithmic strategies for solving large-scale stochastic optimization problems. Details can be found in the publications.
•  Policy instruments to promote cooperation and to make sure that the efficient allocation policies are socially acceptable. For example, we assess upstream/downstream monetary compensations from the optimal allocation policies and the economic information obtained with the optimization model.

This research is carried out at the Université LAVAL, Department of Civil and Water Engineering (Québec, Canada).

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• Problems:
  

1. Large man-made storages have disrupted the hydrology and environment in the Zambezi basin
2. Artificial floods could help restore the environment
3. However, the opportunity cost (forgone benefits in terms of hydropower generation) is unknown

• Main objectives:

1. Better understand the relationship between river flows and ecology
2. Economic valuation of artificial floods in the Zambezi basin
3. Determine reservoir operating policies that include both hydropower generation and environmental flows