A Mean Field Game Approach to Urban Drainage Systems Control: A Barcelona Case Study

Urban drainage systems (UDSs) are complex large-scale systems that carry stormwater and wastewater throughout urban areas. During heavy rain scenarios, UDSs are not able to handle the amount of extra water that enters the network and flooding occurs. Usually, this might happen because the network is not being used efficiently, i.e., some structures remain underused while many others are overused. This thesis proposes a control methology based on mean field game theory and model predictive control that aims to efficiently use the existing network elements in order to minimize overflows and properly manage the water resource. The proposed controller is tested on a UDS located in the city of Barcelona, Spain, and is compared with a centralized MPC achieving similar results in terms of flooding minimization and wastewater treatement plant usage, but only using local information on non-centralized controllers and using less computation times

Pricing irrigation water : a literature survey

As water scarcity and population pressures increase, more countries are adopting water pricing mechanisms, as their primary means of regulating the consumption of irrigation water. The way to allocate water efficiently is to"get the prices right", but how to accomplish this is open to debate. Water pricing methods are sensitive to the social, physical, institutional, and political setting. To assess the costs and benefits of a particular irrigation project, the pricing method must be tailored to local circumstances. The author's survey of the resource economics literature on irrigation services and pricing, will be useful for developing comprehensive guidelines for water policy practitioners. He synthesizes accumulated knowledge about the implementation, and performance of various water pricing methods used over the past two decades: volumetric pricing (marginal cost pricing), output and input pricing, per area pricing, tiered pricing, two part tariffs, and water markets. As water scarcity and population pressures increase, more countries are adopting water pricing mechanisms as their primary means of regulating the consumption of irrigation water. The way to allocate water efficiently is to"get the prices right", but how to accomplish this is open to debate. Water pricing methods are sensitive to the social, physical, institutional, and political setting. To assess the costs and benefits of a particular irrigation project, the pricing method must be tailored to local circumstances. The author's survey of the resource economics literature on irrigation services and pricing, will be useful for developing comprehensive guidelines for water policy practitioners. He synthesizes accumulated knowledge about the implementation, and performance of various water pricing methods used over the past two decades: volumetric pricing (marginal cost pricing), output and input pricing, per area pricing, tiered pricing, two part tariffs, and water markets.Water and Industry,Water Conservation,Water Resources Law,Environmental Economics&Policies,Sanitation and Sewerage,Water and Industry,Water Conservation,Water Use,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Town Water Supply and Sanitation