Genetic algorithm for optimal operating policy of a multipurpose reservoir

This paper presents a Genetic Algorithm (GA) model for finding the optimal operating policy of a multi-purpose reservoir, located on the river Pagladia, a major tributary of the river Brahmaputra. A synthetic monthly streamflow series of 100 years is used for deriving the operating policy. The policies derived by the GA model are compared with that of the stochastic dynamic programming model on the basis of their performance in reservoir simulation for 20 years of historic monthly streamflow. The simulated result shows that GA-derived policies are promising and competitive and can be effectively used for reservoir operation.