A Mass Curve Technique in Controlling a Multi-purpose, Multireservoir System – coupling a water Quality Description with an Interactive System

The interactive BOX system, based on the mass curve technique of Varlet, has been designed for control of a multipurpose multi reservoir system. The current version can handle a river basin with up to five lakes. The outcomes of obj ective functions for hydropower, flood control, recreation and water quality are computed and displayed using graphics. The system provides the manager with a facility of comparing the obj ectives interactively, and hence of iterating his decisions with regard to releases, until a satisfactory solution is reached. Commensurable attributes and algorithmic optimization are hence unnecessary. In this study, the focus is on the coupling of a dynamic water quality model with the BOX system.