Elitist Continuous Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm for Optimal Management of Coastal Aquifers

This paper presents an evolutionary based approach to achieve optimal management of a coastal aquifer to control saltwater intrusion. An improved Elitist Continuous Ant Colony Optimization (ECACO) algorithm is employed for optimal control variables setting of coastal aquifer management problem. The objectives of the optimal management are; maximizing the total water‐pumping rate, while controlling the drawdown limits and protecting the wells from saltwater intrusion. Since present work is one of the first efforts towards the application of an ECACO algorithm, sharp interface solution for steady state problem is first exploited. The performance of the developed optimization model is evaluated through application examples available in the literature. The comparisons indicate the applicability of the ECACO algorithm. In the second approach, the numerical simulation is combined with ECACO algorithm. In this model, through some simple schemes, such as continuity equations in the porous media cells and existing hydraulic systems in the study area, further details can be investigated. The evaluation results show the potential applicability of the proposed numerical based model for optimal management of coastal aquifers.