Modeling the Yield-Evaporation-Spill in the Reservoir Storage Process: The Regulation Triangle Diagram

From the dimensionless reservoir water budget equation, a graphical method to model the yield-spill-evaporation loss trade-off in the reservoir storage process was built. The reservoir inflows were transformed into three parts that sum to the total mean inflow for long-term operation: evaporation, spill and yield. A regulation triangle diagram (RTD) has been proposed to provide a better understanding of the reservoir storage process as a function of reservoir capacity, hydrological river regime, evaporation and reservoir morphology. The inflows were assumed to be serially uncorrelated and to originate from a Gamma probability distribution function. The diagrams were developed using the Monte Carlo method, while the graphics were developed for intermittent rivers with a coefficient of variation of annual inflows that ranges from 0.6 to 1.6. In the model, the reservoir is a single over-year system, and the values are referenced to the steady state conditions.