Optimatics' technology to aid ailing Murray-Darling River
Making the most of the Murray
The new software being designed for use by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's team of hydrological modellers - in conjunction with its BIGMOD river simulation model - comes after a two-year pilot project to prove that artificial intelligence can play an important role for the river basin.
It is the first time an optimization specialist has been engaged to look into the operations of the Basin, and come up with a holistic system of evaluation, Optimatics Asia Pacific regional manager Paul Smith said.
"We had to prove our technology would help them answer `what if' questions and maximise outcomes for the community,'' Dr Smith said.
Optimatics' software is a mathematical tool designed to help engineers process millions of potential water network solutions electronically in just hours, rather than having to manually assess the alternatives.
It enables water utilities to determine electronically the optimal passage and flow of water through cities, towns and new urban developments using current or new infrastructure.
The optimization system uses genetic algorithm optimization, an intelligent search algorithm inspired by Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Simply put, it is a way of solving problems by mimicking the same processes nature uses.
With droughts, environmental damage, economic loss and unexperienced hydrological conditions, management of the river system has thrown up many challenges.
The new technology will help the Authority - which replaced the Murray-Darling Basin Commission as the sole agency planning the integrated management of water resources of the basin in December last year - determine optimal short-term operating procedures and medium to long-term management policies for the River Murray.
"It's a very powerful software program, which will allow thousands of model runs to help identify improved ways of delivering water to South Australia,'' the Authority's River Murray executive director David Dreverman said.
"With all the challenges in the Murray system, there is growing pressure to look at variations to optimize systems and process our problems faster.
"Running the two (BIGMOD and Optimatics' software) together gives us a lot more power.''
The combined genetic algorithm and BIGMOD - the river simulation model used for analysing flow and salinity of water within the Murray and Lower Darling River Systems - will enable faster and more transparent decision-making processes, replacing the time-consuming trial-and-error approach.
In addition to its contract with the Authority, Optimatics is also working with irrigation authorities in the vicinity of the Murray-Darling River to replace aged and leak-prone channel systems with more efficient pipe networks.
The Advertiser, Thursday 29 January, 2009
