Joint flood control scheduling strategy of large cascade reservoirs: A case study of the cascade reservoirs in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in China

The flood control ability of cascade reservoirs is affected by many factors, such as the inflow flood form, and flood control scheduling rules. When large cascade reservoirs were built, it is necessary to evaluate the overall flood control ability of the reservoirs and explore the best joint scheduling strategy. In this study, cascade reservoirs in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in China were selected as the research case. A stochastic model of inflow floods and a dynamic capacity flood regulation model for the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) were established, and the most dangerous inflow floods for downstream flood control were generated. Different scheduling strategies for the cascade reservoirs were set to block the TGR inflow flood to explore the flood control risk in the Jingjiang area under joint operation of the TGR and the upstream cascade reservoirs. The research results show that the joint flood control scheduling strategy has a huge impact on the flood control ability of cascade reservoirs, and different scheduling schemes must be adopted according to the inflow flood characteristics of the reservoirs. This study provides a new idea for systematically evaluating the flood control ability of large cascade reservoirs and selecting appropriate scheduling strategies.