RiverWare

Hydropower Flexibility Highlighted at Clean Currents 2024

Gwendolyn Miller — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 19:22:37 +0000

Hydropower Flexibility Highlighted at Clean Currents 2024 Gwendolyn Miller Tue, 11/12/2024 - 12:22

At this year’s Clean Currents conference in Portland, OR CADSWES industry expert Tim Magee delivered a compelling presentation titled “System-Level Hydropower Flexibility” on October 9. Magee’s talk explored the critical role of hydropower flexibility within a growing and increasingly diverse energy grid. His presentation introduced innovative "flexibility charts" and metrics designed to assess hydropower systems at scale, a breakthrough approach that promises to reshape visual and numerical evaluations of flexibility across different reservoirs and systems. Clean Currents 2024, held from October 7–10, remains the leading event for the waterpower industry, bringing together insights and advancements that address pressing challenges in sustainable energy.

For more details, visit Clean Currents: The official All-Encompassing Waterpower Event That's for the Industry, by the Industry.

Abstract
The inherent flexibility of hydropower units is known to be valuable for both power producers and the larger power grid because many other power sources are less flexible, and some sources are not dispatchable. These limitations of other power sources and their growing use means that fully taking advantage of hydropower flexibility is more important than ever.
Our work with operational models that cover 1/3 of the U.S. hydropower fleet and our prior flexibility research informs our opinion that the flexibility of individual units often does not translate to system level flexibility because of other constraints at the plant and system level, often reflecting the multi-purpose use of reservoirs, mismatched hydropower plant sizes, lag times between reservoirs, and many other factors. From a power perspective, there is an important and open need to assess actual system level flexibility both visually and numerically.
We present new “flexibility charts” to visualize system-level hydropower flexibility and flexibility metrics derived from these charts. These charts and metrics provide a basis to make a variety of visual and numerical comparisons: different reservoirs, different systems, different policies, different conditions, etc. The flexibility charts generalize the concept of the average utilization factor for a hydropower plant over a period of time to a system of reservoirs, We motivate and illustrate flexibility charts with multiple plant examples. We also differentiate between theoretical, optimal, and observed flexibility charts and metrics.

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2025 RiverWare User Group Meeting

Gwendolyn Miller — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 22:26:07 +0000

2025 RiverWare User Group Meeting Gwendolyn Miller Thu, 10/31/2024 - 16:26

2025 User Group Registration Open

When: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Wednesday February 5 and 8:30 - 12:30 Thursday February 6.

Where: UCAR Center Green Auditorium in �鶹ӰԺ CO.

Registration options include:

· Attend in person for $175.00 per person

· Attend online for $35.00 per person

· Discounts for CU Faculty and Students available - see the rates here (Buff One card required)

More meeting details are available at RiverWare.org

Join us and learn about the newest and upcoming software features and creative uses by various RiverWare users.

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New RiverWare Release, Version 9.3

Gwendolyn Miller — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 20:40:58 +0000

New RiverWare Release, Version 9.3 Gwendolyn Miller Fri, 07/12/2024 - 14:40

We are excited to announce the latest release of RiverWare and RiverSMART, version 9.3.

Highlights of the release include:

A new Settings Manager to centralize settings, including functionality for searching and filtering to find the desired setting.
Support for multiple Multi-Windows and improved docking functionality within the Multi-Window.
A new MRM Data Extractor Tool that pulls data out of models saved via Multiple Run Management.
New Multiple Statistic analysis in the Ensemble Data Tool (EDT) and the ability to create shaded percentile curves as shown in the image.
New statistical slot options for exceedance calculations and distribution fitting.
Improved Export Copy options for data in slots and SCTs.
New RPL functions and operators for LIST computations.
Improvements to the scripting interfaces and script variable options.
A new RiverSMART Batch Mode allowing scenario simulations through a batch script.
Many bug and issue fixes.

Please see the release notes for more details about version 9.3.

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Magee presents on RiverWare hydropower flexibilities at CEATI 2024 Conference

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 22:22:33 +0000

Magee presents on RiverWare hydropower flexibilities at CEATI 2024 Conference Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/18/2024 - 16:22

Tim Magee presented “Realizing Hydropower Flexibility with RiverWare“ at the CEATI Hydropower Conference March 20, 2024, in Palm Springs CA. The presentation was co-authored by Edie Zagona, also from CADSWES, and Gabe Miller from TVA was a co-presenter. The presentation was well received and shared important technology available to adapt to a changing hydropower landscape. More about the conference is available.

Abstract:

Fully realizing the potential flexibility of hydropower is essential both because of the variability of load and the growing penetration of renewable generation. While renewables contribute generation, renewables also add variability to the net load after subtracting their generation. The remainder of generation portfolios, including hydropower, face an ever-increasing need for generation flexibility, and the value of that flexibility is likely to increase.

Hydropower is an innately flexible resource, but that flexibility is not always realized. We describe several approaches to realizing the hydropower flexibility. All approaches use RiverWare’s preemptive goal programming optimization method.

One approach to realizing hydropower flexibility is to reconsider standard operating practices that are not formally required but are limiting flexibility. We present the measured gain in flexibility from relaxing some of these common practices.

Another approach to realizing hydropower flexibility is to accurately represent hydropower flexibility in production cost models (PCMs) which include power demand, transmission, and other sources of generation. A complimentary part of realizing hydropower flexibility is including the data generated by PCMs as signals to drive hydropower models. Together, this bidirectional transfer of data can use hydropower flexibility to jointly optimize all generation sources for cost and reliability. We describe several approaches we have applied to real hydropower systems, including TVA, BPA, and others. We also describe the lessons learned from these approaches.

We present one approach in more detail, a case study at TVA with a novel iterative process that approximates joint optimization of hydropower with its flexibility and a portfolio of other generation within a PCM. The iteration ultimately solves both a hydropower model and a PCM twice to approximately optimize TVA’s generation portfolio. This optimization is done with the minimum possible violation of TVA’s higher priority non-power constraints on the hydropower system.

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CADWES R&D featured in Washington Post

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 16:41:32 +0000

CADWES R&D featured in Washington Post Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/15/2024 - 09:41

The CADSWES contribution to the Colorado River modeling for collaborative decision making was featured in the Washington Post on February 11, 2024. The article decribes the history of the CU collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation in developing the RiverWare modeling tools over the past decades. CADSWES models and software, integrated with recent innovations in decision making under deep uncertainty, are now deployed by Reclamation in a web App that is being used by stakeholders for exploring possible future operations of the river basin. Read the article here:

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New RiverWare Release, Version 9.2

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 17:17:18 +0000

New RiverWare Release, Version 9.2 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/23/2024 - 10:17

We are excited to announce the latest release of RiverWare and RiverSmart, version 9.2.

Highlights of this new release include:

Increased flexibility for SCT conditional formatting
Easier display of Snapshots in SCTs and plots
Functionality to apply Snapshot values back to the source slots
Improved visualization of Ensemble Data Sets
Easily add and edit Series Slot Notes directly from the Slot Viewer and SCT
Optionally raise the Diagnostics Output for RPL Notice, Warning, or Alert messages
New options to execute subscript actions
More control over fonts and text color in plots
New Water Year summary options on Statistical Table Slots
Additional options for model locking and auto-save on the Quick Start window
Many bug and issue fixes

Please see the Release Notes for more information on changes in 9.2.

We are excited to announce the latest release of RiverWare and RiverSmart, version 9.2. Highlights of the new release include: increased flexibility for SCT conditional formatting, easier display of Snapshots in SCTs and plots, functionality to apply Snapshot values back to the source slots...

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Drs. Zagona and Kasprzyk meet with Commissioner of Reclamation

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 15:14:58 +0000

Drs. Zagona and Kasprzyk meet with Commissioner of Reclamation Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/05/2023 - 09:14

CEAE Professors Edie Zagona, Director of CADSWES, and Joseph Kasprzyk joined the CADSWES Reclamation Colorado River modeling team in meeting with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation and other Department of Interior officials on September 28 in Washington D.C.

The team gave the Commissioner, Camille Calimlim Touton, updates on the development of a Web App for collaborative decision making that will be deployed for use by stakeholders for the upcoming Environmental Impact Study (EIS) negotiations for new Colorado River operating policies when current policies expire in 2026. Kasprzyk and Zagona, with their graduate students, led the research and development of the science and methods of decision-making under deep uncertainty that underpin the Web App under research grants from Reclamation.

Zagona briefed the officials on the 30-year collaboration between CU-CADSWES and Reclamation that has developed the tools and analysis capabilities that the government has used to finalize successful agreements with US and Mexico stakeholders. She pointed out the many previous graduate students who are, as Reclamation scientists, leading the technical efforts in this upcoming challenging process on the Colorado River.

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2023 RiverWare User Group Meeting

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 23:07:51 +0000

2023 RiverWare User Group Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/28/2023 - 17:07

Over 140 water managers and modelers from federal and local government agencies, utilities, consulting firms and research institutions attended the 19^th RiverWare User Group meeting on August 29-30. Presentations described powerful and inventive RiverWare applications used to plan and operate diverse systems such as the Tennessee Valley, the Truckee River Basin, the Central Utah Project, New Jersey’s Raritan basin, and the Klamath River.

User talks described the use of RiverWare to address current water management challenges such as long-term planning on the Colorado River, binational management of the lower Rio Grande, tribal water settlement in Oklahoma, forecast-informed reservoir operations in Texas, and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. See descriptions of all the talks and access to the presentations here.

The CADSWES RiverWare research and development team gave presentations that showcased new and upcoming software enhancements, features and analysis tools including powerful hydropower optimization modeling, ensemble data analysis, integration with web maps, simulation-based optimization with multi-objective evolutionary algorithms, and the RiverSMART platform for managing huge planning studies that consider multiple future hydrologic and operational scenarios. The meeting format was interactive, and in the final feedback session, users voiced ideas for future enhancements.

CADSWES hosts the RiverWare User Group Meeting approximately every 18 months. Links to the presentations and past meetings here .

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Clement and Neumann present at the 2023 World Environmental & Water Resources Congress

Anonymous — Fri, 26 May 2023 17:37:16 +0000

Clement and Neumann present at the 2023 World Environmental & Water Resources Congress Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/26/2023 - 11:37

Mitch Clement presented “Optimizing Hydropower Reservoirs with Limited Flexibility on the Columbia River” and David Neumann presented “Deep Aquifer Modeling within an Operations and Planning Decision Support Tool on the Rio Grande River, New Mexico” while attending the EWRI conference May 21 – 25, 2023, in Henderson NV.
More about the conference is available here.

Optimizing Hydropower Reservoirs with Limited Flexibility on the Columbia River
Authors: Mitch Clement, Tim Magee and Edie Zagona, Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES), University of Colorado, �鶹ӰԺ.
Abstract:
Chelan County Public Utility District in central Washington owns and operates the Rocky Reach and Rock Island hydropower dams on the Columbia River. The dams have a combined generating capacity of 1924 MW but very limited reservoir storage. This presents significant challenges when managing the cascading reservoirs given variable inflows, a combination of licensing and environmental obligations, and the requirement to meet highly variable and uncertain power demand, shaped in part by a high level of variable wind generation in the region. Without careful management, reservoirs can quickly empty, forcing cuts in generating capacity, or they can quickly fill, leading to excessive spill, which not only represents lost generating potential but also produces high levels of total dissolved gas (TDG) resulting in high fish mortality. We will describe the RiverWare Optimization model Chelan uses to guide operations. The optimization meets formal operational requirements while positioning the reservoirs with flexibility to respond to forecast deviations. The model combines RiverWare’s Rulebased Simulation and Goal Programming Optimization solutions over three forecast horizons at a five-minute timestep. After meeting formal requirements, the priority-based solution uses remaining degrees of freedom for desirable operations, such as preventing spill, keeping reservoirs relatively balanced and preventing large changes in flows. Simulation of TDG formation and transport allows the model to alert the system of anticipated TDG problems. The model runs automatically every five minutes with results feeding into Chelan’s real-time control system.

Deep Aquifer Modeling within an Operations and Planning Decision Support Tool on the Rio Grande River, New Mexico
Authors:
David Neumann and Edie Zagona, Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES) University of Colorado, �鶹ӰԺ.
Roseanna M. Neupauer, CEAE, University of Colorado, �鶹ӰԺ.
John Craven and Nick Mander, Hydros Consulting Inc, �鶹ӰԺ CO.

Abstract:
In the Rio Grande basin in New Mexico, water managers must balance irrigation and water supply demands, environmental flow targets, flood control targets, and other operating objectives. Several agencies share a suite of models used for planning, forecasting, operations and water accounting called the Upper Rio Grande Water Operations Model (URGWOM), implemented in RiverWare. While the basin is highly dependent on shallow groundwater and, at longer time scales, the underlying deep aquifer, only the shallow groundwater system is included directly in URGWOM. The shallow groundwater is represented by a gridded network that solves for flow between groundwater nodes and the surface river reaches using an explicit head-based approach. External MODFLOW simulations provide boundary conditions to this shallow groundwater network that represent the deep aquifer. The MODFLOW simulations are computationally intensive, which has limited the number and type of operating scenarios that could be explored with URGWOM. We introduced a set of “aquifer objects” beneath the shallow groundwater network to directly represent the deep groundwater system. This new approach reduces the computational burden by eliminating the MODFLOW simulations, allowing efficient testing of operating policies that are impacted by the response of the deep aquifer, such as increased or decreased pumping and different hydrologic and climate change scenarios. We describe the head-based solution approach for these aquifer objects and show how the MODFLOW model cells are aggregated into larger aquifer objects to represent the entire basin. This new simplified approach produces results that are consistent with the previous approach.

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Neumann demonstrates RiverWare tools at Sedimentiation and Hydrologic Modeling Conference

Anonymous — Mon, 22 May 2023 20:26:13 +0000

Neumann demonstrates RiverWare tools at Sedimentiation and Hydrologic Modeling Conference Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/22/2023 - 14:26

David Neumann gave a presentation on the RiverWare, RiverSMART and RiverWISE decision support tools developed by CADSWES and used by many in the water management communities. He also gave live demonstrations of the tools in a 3-hour evening session. More about SEDHYD and the full program is available here.

Authors: David Neumann and Edith Zagona, Center for Advanced Decision Support, for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES), University of Colorado, �鶹ӰԺ.

Abstract: RiverWare, RiverSMART and RiverWISE are decisions support tools that assist water managers with forecasting, scheduling, operations, planning, scenario analysis and stakeholder communication. Central to the toolset is the RiverWare application, a river and reservoir modeling tool used by water managers, planners, consultants, utilities, researchers and stakeholders for forecasting and scheduling reservoir and hydropower operations, water rights and water accounting, developing and evaluating alternative operating policies and planning new projects. We will show how models are constructed from the palette of objects and linked together to form a river system network. We will show how data can be easily loaded into RiverWare from various sources, how operating policy is specified as user-specified logic and how outputs can be viewed in different ways and exported to files or databases.

We will show how the RiverWare Study Manager and Research Tools (RiverSMART) software framework facilitate the creation, execution and archiving of RiverWare planning studies. The tool can be used to compare the results of several scenarios representing differing hydrologic ensembles, demands, and strategies such as operating policies and infrastructure alternatives. In the demonstration, we will show how the various components of a planning study are configured and how the specified inputs are combined to create scenarios that are automatically simulated. We will demonstrate how the probabilistic results can be post-processed using various built-in and custom techniques and then archived for future analysis.

In addition, we will show how the RiverWare Interactive Scenario Explorer (RiverWISE) application allows stakeholders and other interested parties to explore a RiverWare model, develop alternative scenarios, simulate those scenarios, and investigate and compare the results. RiverWISE provides an intuitive, controlled environment for stakeholders to experiment with a special version of a RiverWare model. In the demonstration, we will show how to explore the WISE model layout, set up multiple input scenarios, run the scenarios, and view the results, comparing one run to the next.

Finally, we will demonstrate applications of these tools on real basins, explaining the types of analysis performed. Free evaluation versions of the RiverWare, RiverSMART, and RiverWISE software tools including demonstration models will be given to interested visitors. The RiverWare decision support toolset is developed by the University of Colorado Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES) with sponsorship of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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