Optimal allocation model and method for parallel ‘reservoir and pumping station’ irrigation system under insufficient irrigation conditions

The effective regulation and storage of water resources by reservoirs in arid and semi-arid areas is important for alleviating water resource shortages. In this paper, multiple irrigation reservoirs and pumping stations are evaluated, according to their special hydraulic connections and used to establish the water resources optimal allocation model of the parallel ‘reservoir and pumping station’ irrigation system. The mathematical model takes the maximum total income of the whole irrigation area as the objective function, the water supply and spill of the reservoir and the water replenishment of the pumping station as the decision variables, and the system water supply, agricultural water rights, reservoir operation criteria as the constraints. A new multilevel decomposition aggregation dynamic programming (MDADP) algorithm is proposed to solve the complex nonlinear model and is compared with the real-coded genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, cat swarm optimization and whale optimization algorithm. From the analysis of optimality and the applicability of the algorithm, MDADP was found to be more suitable than the above heuristic models for solving problems in the field of the optimal allocation of water resources.