Systems Approach for Optimal Operation of Water Resources Schemes in Kuttiadi River Basin, Kerala

An optimal operation plan has been developed for the reservoirs in Kuttiadi river basin in Kerala using systems approach. A system consists of three reservoirs namely; Banasurasagar in Wayanad district,Kakkayam and Peruvannamuzhi in Kozhikode district has been taken for the study. Banasurasagar reservoir is in Kabbini river basin, which is an east flowing river and the remaining two are in Kuttiadi river basin, which is a west flowing river. They serve different purposes such as irrigation, domestic water supply and hydropower generation. These purposes were fulfilled based on the Standard Linear Operation Policy (SLOP) developed during the early stages of project formulation. Considering the deficit of water in the region, a system study has been done using multi-reservoir multi-purpose simulation technique, in which reservoir rule curve- based policy to optimally utilize the conservation storage of these three reservoirs have been developed. The generalised simulation model developed at the National Institute of Hydrology has been used to derive the rule levels and simulation of the system. The simulation studies reveal that the Banasurasagar reservoir and Peruvannamuzhi reservoir always serve the purposes of water supply without fail. For Banasurasagar reservoir, irrigation and water supply reliability is found to be 86% where as for Peruvanannamuzhi reservoir, it is 77%. The demand for power generation can be met with 90% dependability. Reservoir linked water supply can be thought of from Banasurasagar reservoir to Wayanad district like water supply from Peruvannamuzhi reservoir to Kozhikode district.