A benchmark test problem for reservoir simulation models and comparison of their results

This paper tests different reservoir operation models on a relatively simple water rationing policy through a multi-year simulation of the Upper Krishna River Basin in India. The paper provides a problem description, input and output data, and the evaluation spreadsheet. The need to test simulation models originated from the findings of the National Hydrology Project (NHP) in India, where several models were tested using operating policies that involve reductions in water demand as a function of storage levels. Four of the tested models (Mike Hydro Basin, Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP), HEC-ResSIM, and the WEB.BM) are reviewed in this paper. They all utilize a single timestep progression and steady-state weekly flows. The results show that Mike Hydro Basin and HEC-ResSIM fail to allocate water according to the prescribed rules. Modelling practitioners can test the performance of their models by using the downloadable evaluation spreadsheet and input data for this benchmark.
, , # Data from: A benchmark test problem for reservoir simulation models and comparison of their results

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.j0zpc86sc](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j0zpc86sc)

## Description of the data and file structure

Four reservoir operation models were tested in this work. The archive contains the input data, evaluation spreadsheets for each solution, and the input/output data for three out of four models:

### Problem_definition_and_input_data_spreadsheet.zip

Problem Definition and Input Data Spreadsheet.zip contains two files: problem definition (PDF format) and the “Upper Krishna Basin Input Data” Excel file. This Excel file is essential for those who want to test their own reservoir simulation tools using the same input data. It contains the following worksheets:

Worksheet “Inflows” with the following data entries (all data starting in row 3):

Simulated year in Column A, simulated week in column B, followed by the weekly inflows (m3/s) into Balakwadi, Dhom, Kanher ...,