Author(s): Maria Elena Alfano; Marta Zaniolo; Davide Poggi; Roberto Bosio; Laura Savoldi

Linked Author(s): Davide Poggi

Keywords: Water quality modeling; Thermal regime alteration; Multi-purpose reservoir operation; Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM); Mountain basins

Abstract: In alpine water-resource systems, advancing reservoir management hinges on incorporating ecological dynamics into operational models, with water-temperature regimes playing a central role. In this study, we integrate a lightweight 1D energy-balance thermal model directly into a multi-objective optimisation framework for multi-purpose reservoir management. Applied to the Orco basin in the Italian Alps, the approach quantifies trade-offs among hydropower production , hydropeaking mitigation , irrigation supply, and ecological thermal integrity, revealing the dominant influence of withdrawal release timing on downstream conditions. Embedding temperature as an operational variable produces Pareto-optimal strategies that attenuate thermal exceedances while preserving essential water uses. The resulting Pareto strategies reveal substantial trade-offs between ecological thermal protection and hydropower production, with thermally optimal operations reducing hydropower revenue by up to 40% relative to purely economic policies. This framework advances toward dynamically eco-informed reservoir operations consistent with emerging environmental management goals.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64697/iahr.proc.ise2026.abs.189

Year: 2026