Application of Operations Research Techniques for Allocation of Water Resources in Utah

In this report a methodology is described for determining the optimal allocation of water supplies in the State of Utah to minimize the cost of meeting an assumed set of water requirements. A linear programming model was formulated to represent the ten interconnected hydrologic study areas of the state. The comprehensive model considers virtually all uses, areas, sources, transfers and costs of water. The model has 204 constraints and 338 variables and was solved by the simplex method. Included in the results are the following: ihe opiimai water ailocation or the groundwater, surface water, and water transfers which minimize the cost; the shadow prices of the resources; sensitivity analyses to identify the critical cost coefficients in the optimal solution; parametric analyses to test the effects of changing constraints; and manipulations of the model to test other factors such as operating rules, legal policies, political and institutional limitations. The tabulated data were carefully condensed so as to be more easily understood. Flow diagrams and graphs summarize the important information. The work is fully documented so others can follow what was done and improve the method or apply the model to other areas.