Optimization of California’s Water Supply System: Results and Insights

Abstract

This paper presents results of a large-scale economic-engineering optimization model of California's water supply system. The results of this 4-year effort illustrate the value of optimization modeling for providing integrated information needed to manage a complex multipurpose water system. This information includes economic benefits of flexible operations, economic valuation of capacity expansion opportunities, estimating user willingness to pay for additional water, economic opportunity costs of environmental flows, and identification of promising conjunctive use and water transfer opportunities. The limitations of such modeling also are discussed. Overall, the results suggest improvements to system operation and water allocations with a statewide expected value potentially as high as $1.3 billion/year. Significant improvements in performance appear possible through water transfers and exchanges, conjunctive use, and various operational changes to increase flexibility. These changes also greatly reduce costs to agricultural and urban users of accommodating environmental requirements. Model results also suggest benefits for expanding selected conveyance and storage facilities.

Three decades of Landsat-derived spring surface water dynamics in an agricultural wetland mosaic; Implications for migratory shorebirds

“…Freshwater is poorly monitored and managed across the globe, especially with regard to wetlands and water applied to agricultural lands (Alsdorf et al, 2007;Pimentel et al, 2004). Even in California, which has one of the most highly engineered and intensively managed water systems in the U.S., water rights in some areas represent 1000% of the surface water supply (Grantham and Viers, 2014;Jenkins et al, 2004). Recent pronounced droughts highlight the added complexity of management under climate change interacting with human-imposed water stress, particularly in arid regions with high rates of wetland conversion (Maggioni, 2015;Van Loon et al, 2016).…”

A dynamic water accounting framework based on marginal resource opportunity cost

“…The sheer amount of information produced in such models, especially in large-scale applications (like Jenkins et al, 2004), makes result interpretation often challenging. Given the increasing perception and incorporation of the water's economic value for water planning and management worldwide, it is expected that such models will bring relevant contributions in the design and operation of water systems in the years to come, turning the best use of their information equally important.…”

Hydroeconomic Models as Decision Support Tools for Conjunctive Management of Surface and Groundwater

“…The economic value of water can be characterized exogenously, using different valuation techniques (Young 2005) and external economic models for generating economic demand curves (representing the relation between the quantity of water delivered and its marginal value, ceteris paribus) (e.g. Jenkins et al 2004;Pulido-Velazquez et al 2004. The economic characterization also can be done endogenously, for example including crop production functions in the formulation of the HEM (e.g.…”