collage of Columbia River Basin, dam and RiverWare modelMitch Clement traveled to Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in Portland, OR to teach a three-day customized RiverWare training session September 19–21. BPA uses RiverWare for real-time hourly scheduling of their 10 large projects on the Columbia and Snake Rivers to meet hydropower and flow objectives and short-term optimization to maximize hydropower value subject to complex constraints and other objectives. The training focused on understanding the details of the real-time rulebased simulation model and the short-term optimization planning model, both developed by CADSWES, with emphasis on using RiverWare’s debugging and diagnostic tools for analysis of unexpected results.

Over 20 BPA staff attended the various training sessions. In addition to the real-time scheduling and short-term planning groups, the training was attended by staff from the mid-term planning group, which is exploring the potential use of RiverWare for the planning of Columbia River Basin operations over a one- to two-year horizon.

Information about the Columbia River System is available on the BPA’s website