Optimal operation of inter basin water transfer under the form of water sources interconnection with connected tunnel

Abstract

Study region: Reservoir system on the Han River and Wei River basins, China. Study focus: Interbasin water transfer (IBWT) projects are an important means for solving uneven water resource distribution. The water supply efficiency of IBWT is affected by the original project conditions and runoff. Therefore, this study proposes a new form of IBWT, which is called interbasin water transfer with connected tunnel (IBWTWCT), for solving this problem, and the synchronous-asynchronous encounter (SAE) probability of rich-poor runoff is calculated in order to reveal the process of operation and the function of the connected tunnel. New hydrological insights: (1) Regarding giving full play to the runoff characteristics and existing engineering regulation performance, IBWTWCT possesses obvious advantages over typical interbasin water transfer (TIBWT), the annual average water transfer increases by 105 million m³ , and it basically fulfills total water demand. (2) The connected tunnel can fully exploit the multi-year regulation performance of the reservoir, reservoir water level drop reaching the maximum of 5.86 % in February during a dry year. (3) The SAE probability of rich-poor runoff significantly impacts the interbasin water transfer project, and the connected tunnel provides a maximum of 209 million m3 water supply for reservoirs in IBWTWCT, while also improving the operational process of the entire system. This research is not limited to improving the comprehensive benefit of the project and could be extended to other interbasin water transfer systems of similar structures.

Keywords

• Operation
• Interbasin water transfer
• Connected tunnel
• Water supply
• Synchronous-asynchronous encounter