water plays a significant role in the overall human experience

 water plays a significant role in the overall human experience

yhjWater is an essential commodity that human beings need as it is one aspect that supports life, not only for human beings but also for plants and other living organisms. It is for this reason that human beings will do whatever it takes to ensure that they safeguard all their water catchment areas and also preserve the excess in their disposal. Apart from water being a fundamental aspect that supports life, human beings have found other essential uses of water that are beneficial to their lives. Among the many other significant uses that are essential to human life include hydropower generation. Hydropower generation plays a vital role in the daily running of human life as it helps power and boosts almost all activities human beings undertake. For this reason, water plays a significant role in the overall human experience.

The fact that human in various activities uses water, it means that there are instances where the commodity can be scarce. For this reason, human beings have devised mechanisms that help them be able to preserve excess water for future use. Among the ways designed by humans to store and retain the excess water, construction of dams, underground preservation, and storage tanks are examples of facilities used by humans to store and preserve excess water. All these facilities are built with a reason to help preserve excess water that will be used in the future when the commodity is scarce. However, some facilities are built with other reasons attached, apart from just storing and preserving water for future use.

Taking an example of a dam as a preservation facility, many other reasons may facilitate the building of a dam other than just preservation and store of water. Some of the reasons that may lead to the building of a dam at any point are to control seasonal flooding, to collect water for irrigation, to create artificial fishing grounds, and for hydropower generation. All these are potential reasons that may push for the construction of a dam. With all the above reasons in place, the rational focus of the project will focus on one of the reasons mentioned as to why a dam can be built. Since hydropower generation requires large masses of water, the research will solely focus on it and get to find out various aspects that are attached to the construction of a dam that is latter used for hydropower production.

By focusing on the construction of a dam for hydropower production, various approaches will be studied to find out the reasons as to why a decision was made for the whole project to be hydropower production. Although the dam may be used for hydropower production, there will always be other essential needs that arise, which need the water to be used. In such a situation, it becomes hard to balance between other uses of the water and the primary reason for the dam, which is for hydropower generation. Due to the increasing demand and need for the water for other uses, various issues rise that, in a way, make it hard for the management to take control and balance the use. However, since such issues were predicted, various scholars have come up with different mathematical and theoretical models that have tried to balance and, at the same time, offer solutions to the issues in question. According to statistics, several models have been able to create and provide substantial solutions that have solved some of the problems. In contrast, others have not been able to give any answer whatsoever. For this reason, the models and theories have advantages and disadvantages based on the design and approach they implement.

Following all the above information, a critical analysis will be conducted that will try to compare different models or instead methods used in solving issues that may arise. In the process of studying the methods, a case study Senegal River dam will be used where all the comparison of the ways in place will be used based on Senegal River Dam. By using the case study, it will be easy to have appropriate assumptions, recommendations, and solutions to problems that are all associated with the Senegal water Dam. Using the Senegal River Dam case study is essential as the issues and situations of the dam are unique to the study. It is so as the original reason as to why the dam was constructed created issues to the point that a decision was made to optimize it to hydropower production. With the underlying challenges, it is clear that the study will be able to compare the different models in question and be able to come up with appropriate solutions for the issues in hand. Moreover, there will be a proper decision on which model or method is efficient in dealing with the issues affecting the whole aspect.

Approaches used to solve the Problem Currently.

Critically looking at the nature and state of Senegal, there are situations where the country is hit by drought to a point where what is left is for the government has to supply relief food. However, Albergel, Bader, and Lamagat (1997) argue that the nation has seasons where it experiences drought and flooding. It is with the reason that both seasons are not always favorable to the Senegalese people (Albergel, Bader, & Lamagat., 1997). It is for this reason that the Senegal River Dam was created so that it could be able to help curb the issue of drought and flooding. However, it has not been the case as people are seen to struggle to have access to water that is available at the dam. With the rise in the need for water for domestic use by the local people, the government decided to make the barrier be a full hydropower production site (Andersen & Dalgaard, 2013). This is an action that has affected the whole operation of the Senegal River dam as many people have stopped fighting for the water.

Following the above issue, the government decided to reduce the chaos by solely making the dam a hydropower plant. The move has since helped the flooding in the area, and it has also improved the quantity of electricity produced and fed in the national grid (Raso, Bader, & Weijs, 2020). However, there are other factors that the move has affected that has affected the overall well-being of local people and the nation in general.

However, various other factors can be implemented that will help deal with the whole situation without having to create a conflict among everyone who depends on the dam. To start with, a proper strategy has to be developed which analyzes all the dependents of the dam and their importance to society and the nation at large. From this data, a proper strategy will be developed that will create an equilibrium that will ensure that there is a balance on all the factors and dependents of the dam. This will help in making sure that no element is looked down upon or neglected at any point from accessing the water from the dam. By doing all this, there is a high chance the issue related to the use of water from the dam will be dealt with accordingly without any problems at all.

Problem Statement

Critically looking at the case study in question, it is clear that the dam has significant impacts on the people of Senegal in general. Although the people around the dam are the ones who may either be benefitting or facing issues with the barrier, the general population of the nation gets to have a feel of the same in one way or the other at some point. For instance, the Senegal River Dam was created to be able to benefit people in various ways. Of course, the traditional reasons of water are taken into consideration. Still, one primary reason as to why the dam was created was to first take care of the flooding issue affecting the people in the region. Secondly, the dam was created with a reason to cater to the needs of water for the people of Senegal in several cities. Last but not least, the dam was created so that it can be a source of hydropower generation. All these were aspects that would help the people of Senegal without any discrimination.

However, as time went by, various issues started rising on how to manage and distribute the use of the water reservoir. All the needs of water of people of Senegal consumed a significant amount of water, which is from domestic and commercial use and irrigation, just to name a few. On the other hand, for hydropower production to be efficient and produce optimum power that is required, there needs to be enough water that will steer the turbines, which in turn generates electricity. All these activities require a significant amount of water so that to be able to cater for everything optimally. It is at this point that the underlying issue sets in that are causing all the issues. There is a problem of the multi-objective reservoir for simultaneously optimizing hydropower production while providing maximal flood protection and, at the same time, taking care of all traditional uses of water in Senegal.

With the scramble of the water present, it has created issues of shortages in one area, where some aspects are not taken into consideration. It is at this point that various issues start rising, thus affecting the whole population that is depending on the dam. To begin with, the most affected individuals at this point are the people living around the dam, who use the water for domestic purposes like drinking, cooking, irrigation, and other commercial purposes in the area. All these individuals are affected as they are, at times, limited to access water. Moreover, the general population of the country is also affected as the overall power produced is not enough to take care of all commercial and domestic needs. When electricity is not enough, it means that a section of the economy in the nation will be affected as there is no adequate electricity to run the daily activities.

Based on the information collected on the problem at hand and the impact it has on the Senegalese people, it is clear that there are adverse impacts that are yet to manifest. Just as seen, the dam serves as the heart of the economy of the Senegalese. All this is so as it serves the local people around the dam to deal with all domestic activities that require water and, at the same time, facilitate their lighting from the electricity produced (Multipurpose Water Reservoir Management: 2017). If at all the issue of finding a solution to the multi-objective is not attained, then several aspects that are directly linked to the growth and development of the country’s economy will be affected. To start with, a significant percent of the Senegal economy is supported by agriculture, which means that if the agricultural sector is tempered with in any case, the economy will also be shaken. People living around Senegal River Dam practice agriculture, and they use water from the dam to irrigate their crops during the dry season. Therefore, if there is no appropriate solution as to how the dam will be able to take care of the simultaneous multi-objective of the dam, then the irrigation will be affected, thus making it hard for people to grow crops.

On the other hand, when there is no enough water to be able to produce adequate electricity from the hydropower, there is a high chance that the quantity of power in the national grid will reduce, thus pushing for regulator measures on electricity distribution. When the distribution is cut, it is clear that some sectors will be affected, like the industrial areas. The moment the industrial area is concerned with a power surge, it is clear that production, manufacturing, and assembling industries will reduce their operations or even stop. All of this will have a significant impact on the overall economy of the country. For this reason, the issue needs to be dealt with as soon as possible to be able to save the nation from any adverse impacts on their economy.

Objectives

The study in question aims at accomplishing several goals by the time it is complete. However, out of the many purposes, there is the primary goal that the project seeks to achieve. The aim of the study is to develop a new strategy that will have a specific algorithm that can be used to optimize reservoir operations, which will help in making sure that all activities are taken care of without having to underestimate any operation whatsoever. Based on the primary goal of the study, it is absolute that there are other minor goals that the stud aims to achieve, which are all taken care of by the primary goal. It is from the goals of the study that objectives will be drawn. Among the objectives of the study include;

• To quantify the inflow uncertainty using a novel stochastic time series model that accounts for a long-term memory of the whole process.
• To find a proper and efficient sequential minimization optimization algorithm that will take into consideration all the activities and aspects taking place in the dam without being biased.
• To compare and benchmark various methods implemented at Aswan high dam with the already proposed approaches through simulation experiments, which will be done by studying reliability and computational efficiency of each methods.
• To use various methods and programs like the Real-Time Optimization (RTO), Operating Policy (OP), and Release Sequences (RS) in achieving the best optimum solution to optimize the operations of Senegal River Dam.

All the above objectives will be used as a guide to achieving the set goals and targets of the study. Although the targets are for the study, the results will be used to create a proper strategy that will help in curbing the issue at hand affecting Senegal River Dam.

Methodology

Research methodology is an essential part of any study as it gets to provide a systematic, theoretical, and detailed analysis of methods that will be used in the process of data collection and empirical study. Kothari (2004) explains that the methodology part extensively explains and describes the methods and techniques of data collection and analysis (Kothari, 2004). Kothari further explains that it is at this point that the researcher will be able to increase the validity and reliability of the data collected on the research topic in question. All this is to ensure that the achieved solution is one of a kind and it has the ability to bring change and the desired solutions to the issue in place. Based on the nature of the study, it is clear that various methods will be employed that will help achieve the desired goals. All the methods will be integrated and designed to all focus on one target. In so doing, there is a high chance that an appropriate solution will be achieved that will be able to solve the whole issue at once.

According to the goals and objectives of the study, a solution is needed that will help in creating a systematic strategy that will be ensure there is a proper balance in the use of the water from Senegal River Dam. In achieving all this, both qualitative and quantitative analysis will be implemented. Both methods will have one goal, collecting appropriate data and analyze it appropriately then come up with possible solutions, recommendations and conclusions on the whole study.

Primary Data

To start with, primary data will have to be collected which will be used as a base in the whole process of getting to find out the solution and the appropriate way to deal with the issue. At this point, various methods will be used to collect primary data which will be recorded appropriately. Among the methods that will be used to collect primary data include;

• Conducting interviews/use of questionnaires
• Observation Method
• Projective techniques
• Schedule methods
• Case Study Methods

The above methods will help in collecting primary data that will help in creating the base of the issue at hand. Also, the primary data will help when it comes to the point of making decisions and implementing the proposed solutions for the issue. All this will be done with the consideration of the primary data collected.

Secondary Data

Secondary data is information that is collected by someone else and is being used as a reference in a current research study. Secondary data can be categorized as either qualitative or quantitative, based on the type of research and need of information. Each type of data has its own unique techniques of collecting. The following are methods that can be used in the process of collecting secondary data.

Qualitative Data Methods

• Newspapers
• Diaries
• Interviews
• Transcripts
• Journals

Quantitative Data Methods

• Conducting Survey
• Financial Statements
• Statistics

With the above stated methods, secondary data will be collected which will be used in the process of determining the right approach to create an equilibrium on the use of the water in the dam. All this is according to the interest of the primary goal and objectives of the study.

Just as seen before, various methods and approaches will be integrated which all will focus on achieving appropriate solutions. All this methods will use the data collected in developing an appropriate strategy that will initiate a proper solution that will have positive impacts on the overall operation of the local people and the nation as a whole. Among the methods and techniques that will be used in creating the strategies will also need the skills of the researchers who will be able to compute the values and come up with appropriate mathematical values that are accurate.

Qualitative Data

As seen before, appropriate qualitative data is collected which is all focused on information regarding the issues affecting the efficient operation of the dam water. At this point, all the information that reports about the dam not being able to meet its purpose to the people will be recorded. Despite the fact that most qualitative data bases on the issues, there are some sections that base on proposed solutions for the issue at hand. Such information will also be collected which will also be used as a reference or even as a source when coming up with appropriate solutions to deal with the issue. Taking all this information is essential as it acts as first-hand experience of the people affected. Therefore, if at all the information is incorporated in the whole process of creating and designing strategic measures to deal with the issue. By taking into consideration all the collected qualitative data will help in making sure that the decision made take the interests of the people into consideration.

Qualitative analysis

Quantitative analysis is the process where a researcher uses numerical solutions in making decisions. At this point, a researcher uses data collected using various quantitative analysis methods. The data collected is always raw, but by incorporating various methods and techniques, the data is analyzed and interpreted where appropriate data that can easily be interpreted is posted. At this point, a wide range of data will be collected which is directly associated with the issue at hand. For instance, the first aspect that the research team will have to take a record of water inlet during rainy season and that of dry season for a specific period of time. The data collected will be used to calculate the amount of water that the dam can hold on full capacity during the two season. The information will also help when it comes to the process of calculating equilibrium for all activities and actions that the dam services.

Also, data will be collected on the amount of water that is used to affect each activity individually and how much water is used on an annual scale in two seasons. The data at this point is vital as it helps determine the amount of water that each activity requires every time that is enough to efficiently run the activity without fail. With this data, it will be easy to calculate total amount of water per unit that is required by each activity at a certain time. With the data in place, it will be easy to come up with a strategy that will easily balance on how each activity is taken care of without having to limit or disadvantage the other activities whatsoever. Also, in affecting all the above, the team will also need information on performance of each sector or rather activity so that to be able to determine the frequency and rate at which each aspect will be supplied with water (Multi-Objective Optimization). By having all the above information, it is clear that the team will easily come up with an appropriate mathematical strategy that will easily create an equilibrium among the variables of water usage from the dam. All this will have appositive impact on the overall well-being of the project.

After all the above, it is from here that we get to come to the comparison of the three essential methods that will be used in the whole process of analysis. The three models include, Real-time optimization, operating policy optimization and release sequence optimization.

Real-Time Optimization (RTO)

RTO is a method that is designed in a manner that it gets to reevaluate the process operating conditions with an aim of maximizing the economic productivity of the plant in question. Tahan and Rashid Khan (2014) argue that the technique is designed in a manner that it only gets to evaluate an already existing strategy. The methods reevaluates strategies already in place and measures their efficiency. However, at this point, it seems not to be applicable as the issues at this point require a well-designed strategy that will help in creating an equilibrium which takes into consideration all other factors that pose to be variables to the dam in question (Taha & M. Rashid Khan, 2014). For this reason it is clear that the approach can only be useful when it comes to the point of assessing the efficiency of already enacted strategies for the Senegal River Dam.