In the past decade considerable research in several disciplines has
been oriented toward the design of optimal capacity expansion plans for
water resource systems. The emphasis of most of these efforts has been
directed toward minimization total cost outlays in project planning.
This focus somewhat limits the full applicability of the optimal capacity
expansion solutions since it is believed that the criteria of economic
efficiency is not well addressed in this mode. This study explores
the merits of scheduling water resource project facilities on the basis
of anticipated economic benefits provided, an approach needed only infrequently
in the systems engineering literature. Using the Umatilla River
Basin in Northeast Oregon as a case study example, the facilities (and
their alternatives) of a previously planned federal water resource development
project in that area were carefully analyzed with respect to the
magnitude and timing of anticipated benefits and costs. Irrigated agriculture
and fishery development/enhancement benefits were the two principal
purposes of the project considered. In addition, benefits arising
from flood prevention, municipal and industrial water supply, and erosion
control were also integral to the original overall evaluation. The
design of the research was to first implement a basic scheduling model
in the context of the case study area and then to explore the ramifications
of exchange-theoretic and distribution-theoretic criteria on the
timing of facilities and the ultimate allocation of water among purposes.
The model implemented was aimed at maximizing the present value of net
benefits inherent in an optimally timed set of facilities subject to an
annual budget constraint. Having designed the model along integer programming
lines, three different solution techniques were explored in
order to realize a desirable level of efficiency in basic model solution.
It was found that reasonably efficient solutions could be obtained. By
optimally timing the facilities it was found that the total present value
of net benefits of the project could be significantly enhanced when compared
to the original schedule proposed in the project planning documents.
Of even greater interest is the issue of incorporating into the planning
process (and specifically into the capacity expansion mode of planning)
considerations of tradeoffs or exchanges between project beneficiaries.
Such exchanges and other distributional criteria can affect and be
affected by the selection and timing of project facilities within an
overall project design. These interrelationships are explored paying
particular attention to the way in which exchanges of water (via water
rights transfers) could establish higher levels of benefits in future
years. Noneconomic exchange processes such as the enforcement of extant
property rights relating to water resources are another issue which complicated
the process of water planning. Such distributional criteria
are difficult to incorporate into the capacity expansion mode of planning
analysis. However, ways are explored by which the basic model may
be modified and used by decision makers in order to take account of
more realistic problems in water resource planning for individual
river basins. / Graduation date: 1981 / Partially funded by the U.S. Dept. of the Interior as authorized under the Water Research and Development Act of 1978. / Final technical completion report for project no. A-046-ORE to U.S. Dept. of the Interior.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/22655 |
| Date | 05 September 1980 |
| Creators | Lin, Biing-Hwan |
| Contributors | Kraynick, Roger G. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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