Page - 412 - in Book of Full Papers - Symposium Hydro Engineering

 Lack of experience with the assessment and evaluation reservoir operation (sustainable vs. not sustainable)  Lack of tools for assessing the effects of different operating rules  Lack of strategies for solving conflicts when dealing with conflicting purposes  Lack of suitable software for simulating reservoir operation both in the planning stages as well as for operational use  Lack of adequately qualified personnel This project aims to increase awareness of these problems among reservoir operators and to provide a tool that is suitable for transferring the knowledge necessary to tackle them. 3. PROJECT DESCRIPTION In this paper, we present an innovative piece of software called the Reservoir Operation Simulator (ROPES), whose purpose is to support classic knowledge transfer (training) regarding reservoir operation. The simulator is a tool for raising awareness and transferring existing knowledge regarding efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly reservoir operation to regions where this is lacking and can thus aid in strengthening resource efficiency, reducing environmental strains and improving sustainability. ROPES can be used to train local reservoir operators regarding reservoir operation while considering different climatological and hydrological conditions and competing uses and goals. Training exercises can cover the following topics:  Strategies for serving conflicting uses and how to apply them to actual operation  Impacts of reservoir operation with a focus on the natural environment  Importance of monitoring and data management  Integrated reservoir management consisting of catchment, upstream auxiliary dams, water transfers, reservoir water body, dam, operating facilities, power station, water courses  Risk assessment, emergency planning, reporting  Comparison of the effects of different operating strategies by simulating and evaluating different scenarios  Necessity of regularly reevaluating and adjusting operating rules 412