Derivação de regras baseadas em critérios sustentáveis para a operação mensal do Reservatório Epitácio Pessoa.

Abstract

The frequent water crises experienced in the region supplied by the Epitácio Pessoa reservoir - the second largest in Paraíba - show the need to efficiently use the available water. As the contribution area of the reservoir is one of the driest in Brazil, you need to build sustainable solutions and alternatives to the Standard Linear Operating Policy (SLOP), a method commonly used to operate reservoirs. In this way, this work aimed at developing practical rules for the monthly operation of the Epitácio Pessoa reservoir, based on sustainability indicators. Using a simulation-optimization model, the reservoir was operated for a period of 900 months in three different demand scenarios: Scenario 1, with a demand of 2,045 m³/s, as determined in a technical document produced by the Brazilian National Water Agency (2017); Scenario 2, using 150% of this demand; and Scenario 3, with 200% of it. An optimal rule was determined for each scenario based on a sustainability index and, subsequently, the behavior of the application of the optimized rule was compared to that derived from SLOP. The results produced by the optimized rules were less vulnerable than those generated by SLOP and kept similar levels of reliability and resilience. The operation with the optimized rules implied in the distribution of deficit peaks in time, reducing water stresses. The best sustainability index was observed in the operation of the reservoir with the optimized rule determined in Scenario 1. The reservoir average volume and spill rates under the operations of Scenario 1 were considerably equivalent to historical values, indicating that the reference demand suggested by the Brazilian National Water Agency matches reality.