Improving an integrated operational tool to manage a river system with dams and reservoirs considering flow sediment and ecology

Samenvatting project

Deltares and J-Power have been working together for more than 20 years, on improving and applying the knowledge and tools related to sediment management in rivers with reservoirs considering the river basin-wide ecosystem. Consequently, this research aims to build on the previous development of sediment transport and ecological processes and the recently implemented functionality in the Delft3D4 software. The development will be migrated and implemented in our new flexible mesh software (Delft3D-FM).
In the previous years of this collaboration, Deltares tools (Delft3D4 and real time control toolbox) have been developed to provide the real-time impact of gate operations on reservoir sediment flushing and sluicing. This helps to find an optimal solution for gate operation. These new developments have been validated in Funagira Dam (Japan), Marmot Dam (USA), Marsyangdi cascade dams system in Nepal. Several conference papers have been published to demonstrate and outreach our knowledge, tools and accomplishments. The knowledge and tool are used in other assignments that Deltares has been involved in with external partners, for example in India (Dakpathar Dam) and Laos (Mekong cascades dams). In the Netherlands, some consultants have used this approach to optimize the operation of Sea barriers. Furthermore, to improve the ecosystem services in regulated river, the fish habitat is one of the main components to be considered. Therefore, the collaboration continued to develop the habitat modelling and provide an integral tool to investigate the hydrodynamics, the morphology, the habitat modelling and provide optimal solution considering the dynamics of the system and the interlinkages between these components. The new Delft3D flexible mesh software (Delft3D-FM) is the successor of Delft3D4. The software has added values like future possibilities of modelling 1D,2D and 3D in one model domain and its flexibility in schematization and grid generation. Therefore, we are migrating our development to Delft3D-FM. This development of Delft3D-FM includes morphology, reservoir management, dam operation (RTC-tool) and ecology, and will be validated based on new data, provided by J-Power. The application and validation will consider the coupling between morphology, habitat diversity and RTC tools in complement with the development of Delft3D-FM and Delta-Shell platform. New routines will be developed that link hydro-morphological processes, dam operations (single and synchronized) and ecology. These models with new functionality and routines will be tested, validated and applied in case studies in reservoirs in Tenryuu River, Japan (owned by our collaborator J-Power).
In this research collaboration, we will optimize the reservoir operation considering the sediment management as one of the main parameters (e.g. hydropower, environmental flow and/or other water use purposes). D-RTC 2 tool will be used for optimization.
In addition, the need for a large scale synchronized operation of multiple reservoirs considering both sediment and ecology, makes it important and useful to develop more reliable 1D model using Delft3D-FM for three cascading dams (Sakuma, Akiba and Funagira). The outcome of this research is expected to be contributing to our knowledge and software development as well as their dissemination and outreach through our joint presentation and publication in conferences/journals.

Doel van het project

The overall objective is to improve our knowledge base and tools to support the optimal management strategy for resilient river system with reservoirs considering large (e.g. catchment level) to detailed scale (e.g. reach level). Followings are some of the objectives of the proposed research activities: 1)To implement new functionalities in our 1D and 2D flexible mesh software to make it usable to provide a reliable prediction of dam operation flow sediment transport and ecology (Delft3D-FM+RTC under Delta-Shell platform).2)To validate above mentioned functionalities in our modelling tools to improve the morphological replication and prediction with dam operation that could be more useful to assess river environment and habitats3)Provide 1D and 2D modelling tools that are equipped with new functionalities needed for optimal sluicing and flushing operation of the system of reservoirs in a cascade.4)To provide RTC tool with improved approach (a step ahead) for optimizing reservoir operation by integrating component related to environmental flow sediment transport and habitat suitability models and tools:One and two-dimensional models namely Delft3D4 and Delft3D-FM (1D and 2D) are coupled with RTC tool to mimic the real-time dam operation (standalone and synchronized). The coupling will be improved further in complement with water quality and habitat suitability tools. The tool will be also be improved and used to optimize the water use environmental releases sediment management and habitat suitability in an integrated manner.

Motivatie

Dam and reservoirs are important for water storage renewable energy generation as well as flood management particularly in areas with strong seasonal variations in rainfall-runoff patterns along with ever-growing water and energy demand due to growth of economy and population. However these dammed reservoirs intervene the natural system of rivers: they distort the natural environmental flow of the river. The natural environmental flow of a river is defined by the quantity frequency timing predictability and duration of a river’s flow regime. Over hundreds of years this natural flow regime has shaped the riverine functioning in terms of abiotic and biotic interactions. The degree of impact of dams on a river’s natural flow regime depends on the extent of the required water storage the diversion of the water from the natural river bedding and the interruption of the lateral connectivity.The major negative impact of dams in a river basin is the disturbance in natural flow dynamics and sediment transport for example shortage in downstream flow and sediment supply leading to micro- to large-scale morphological changes and changes in species habitats. These changes do not only impact riverbeds floodplains and settlements but also aquatic and riparian habitats (e.g. wetlands and fish spawning areas) and ecological processes (e.g. fish migration cues) and therefore socio-economic benefits like providing food for local communities and profits for larger scale companies. It is vital to improve the ecosystem services of regulated rivers to minimize the hinderance to the natural processes.Common impacts of changes of the natural environmental flow by river damming are deterioration of the natural riverine habitats as flow and sediment and erosion dynamics changed. Also damming of rivers introduce the risk of calamity (e.g. dam break). Reservoirs behind dams may introduce emissions enhance pollution (virtually stagnant water) and health challenges especia

Locatie

Delft

Uitgevoerde acties

Implementing and testing new sediment transport formula in Delf3D- FM software Fundamental research (1)DeltaresImplementing the PID controller in Delft3D-FM 1D for gate operation as well as validating of the new development (e.g. the new cohesive sediment transport formula) in Delft3D4 morphological model with RTC.Fundamental research (2) Deltares & JpowerInvestigating and improving the implementation of Fluff layer of sediment to replicate deposition and erosion process of fine sediment/mud in reservoirs and downstream reach (relevant for fish) Fundamental research (3)Deltares & Jpower ActiviteitType activiteitRol partijenImplementing and testing an adapter to better connect the HABITAT knowledge database. The adapter will help to read the files and produce HABITAT model ready to run within Delta-Shell. Experimental research (1)DeltaresTesting further application of porosity model (as a part of new sediment transport approach) given that some of the options do not work with ‘mud’ functionality.Experimental research (2)Deltares & JpowerApplication of the new functionality in Delft3D4 morphological model with RTC for a real-world case (Funagira Reservoir in Japan)Industrial research (1)Jpower & DeltaresReal-world application of coupled model (morphology + habitat + RTC) in Delft3D-FM to Funagira reservoir morphological model with habitat assessmentIndustrial research (2)Jpower and DeltaresApplication of the improved 1D-model in a cascade system of dams in Tenryu River.Industrial research (3)Jpower & DeltaresOptimization of Funagira reservoir operation as standalone optimization using RTC toolIndustrial research (4)Jpower & DeltaresDevelop knowledge related to species traits (specific characteristics of species) as modelling entity instead of species in Habitat modelling.Industrial research (5)Jpower & DeltaresInvestigate how to consider sediment and HABITAT to optimize reservoir operation in RTC-toolbo

Verwachtte resultaten

Proposal inventory and data collection memo2019Update of Delft3D-FM code with the new proposed development 2019/2020Delft3D4/FM model testing and application case with RTC morphology and habitat suitability assessment2020Develop 1D model for the river with the 3 cascade dams including sediment and structures’ control using Delft3D-FM2020Optimization of Funagira reservoir operation as a standalone system using RTC tool with optimization 2020Memorandum with the results and a conference/journal paper will be written (together with J-Power)2020Update to Deltares public-wiki. 2020

Innovativiteit

Process-based modelling tools such as Delft3D4 Delft3D-FM and HABITAT models are still not yet commonly used in an integrated manner in dam sector (hydropower multi-purpose) to quantify and mitigate relevant impacts (hydraulic morphological and ecological) of their operation. Furthermore previous TKI-projects in variety of river systems with interventions (Tenryuu River Mekong River Koshi River Marsyangdi River etc.) show that it is more practical to replicate the larger scale processes in a river system with cascade dams by using one-dimensional (1D) approach. 1D model with sediment transport and real-time operation will be a practical tool to replicate large scale system in order to investigate synchronized and optimal behaviour of the system with interventions. This will immensely contribute to reach our goal of providing 1D 2D and 3D modelling in one coupled model domain and platform. Existing tools do not provide enough functionality flexibility and robustness to use them in integrated way in practice. Some of the innovative aspects can be outlined as follows: •Improvement and application of a one-dimensional model (within Delf3D-FM development) with a focus on morphology under synchronized operation with RTC for a cascade system of dams•Implementation of optimization algorithm in RTC considering sediment management and habitat suitability (not considered yet in RTC).•The HABITAT model has always been used for species and groups of species translating environmental factors into habitat suitability curves and identifying the most limiting factor in terms of ‘too shallow water depths too fine sediments too turbid’. A first step to link HABITAT modelling more to the environmental approach is to connect the species habitat to specific components of the flow requirement: “higher peak discharges are needed to prevent silting up of the gravel thereby creating suitable spawning habitat” or “discharge is too low and hence the con

Valorisatie

Niet ingevuld

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De informatie over dit project wordt kenbaar gemaakt via de website van de TKI Deltatechnologie (projectbeschrijving) en de projectwiki van Deltares (projectvoortgang en resultaten).

Projectvoorwaarden

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Projecteigenaar en projectleider(s)

Projecteigenaar:
Hans Groot
Er is geen projectleider aan dit project toegekend.

Partners

  • J-Power Chigasaki Research Institute
  • Stichting Deltares (Delft)
  • TKI Deltatechnologie

Resultaten

Improving an integrated operational tool to manage a river system with dams and reservoirs considering flow sediment and ecology-2022-1

Resultaat type
Tussentijds resultaat
Aantal
4
Omschrijving

Habitat & Ecology: https://publicwiki.deltares.nl/display/TKIP/Habitat+and+Ecology
Implementation of the PID controller in Delft3D FM (for 1D modelling): https://publicwiki.deltares.nl/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=189498177
Integrating field measurements and modelling for optimal operation of cascade dams in Tenryuu River: https://publicwiki.deltares.nl/display/TKIP/Integrating+field+measurements+and+modelling+for+optimal+operation+of+cascade+dams+in+Tenryuu+River
Optimization of reservoir operation: https://publicwiki.deltares.nl/display/TKIP/Optimization+of+reservoir+operation

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