Optimal Large-Scale Conjunctive Water-Use Planning: Case Study

Optimal sustained ground-water yield and conjunctive water-use strategies are presented for northeastern Arkansas, based on water demands projected for the five decades of 1990–2039. Each strategy consists of spatially and temporally distributed values of ground-water and surface-water use. The 33,700 km 2 region has much irrigation and is very dependent upon ground water. Ground-water flow simulation/ optimization (S/O) models are used to attempt to satisfy temporally increasing water needs for alternative future management scenarios. The S/O models employ a sequential steady-state embedding approach, and contain over 1,600 embedded ground-water and river-volume balance constraints per decade (stage)