Optimal Management of the Israeli National Water Supply System

Abstract:

Our team is developing for the Operations Division of the Israel Water Authority a suite of models for optimal operation of parts of the national water systems, and eventually of the entire system. At this time we have elaborated and are testing two components, one for long-term monthly operation the Kinneret and the other for determining the purchase of monthly quantities from the five existing desalination plants. In parallel, we are preparing the model for the national system, based on data received from the Planning Division of the Water Authority. In each case, the first phase is a deterministic model that is tested and run under a range of hydrologic conditions, scenarios, economic parameters and management rules. The models are being used to support ongoing decision making by the Water Authority, as they are being tested for stability and ease of use through tailor-made interfaces. In the following phase, one or more approaches and methods for optimizing under uncertainty will be employed. This work encounters challenges of several kinds - uncertainty in water availability, demands, economic functions and parameters, non-linearity and size of the models, and – most important – the imperative of making the models useful and usable in practice by the Water Authority teams at the professional and management levels.

The work is conducted by AGAT Engineering for the Operations Division of the Israeli National Water Authority, led by Mr. Zeev Achipaz and aided by Dr. Avichai Haddad.