3rd Asian Regional Conference

MODELING OF REAL-TIME WATER ALLOCATION PLANNING IN

INDONESIA

Waluyo Hatmoko©

ABSTRACT

The underlying increase of population and the development of socio-economy in Indonesia

has brought about escalation of water utilization for various water sectors, such as irrigation,
domestic, municipal and industry, fisheries, power, and environment. On the other hand, the
scarcity of water constantly triggers the conflict of water allocation among sectors as well as
among regions. One of the non-structural measures to overcome this problem of allocating
precious resources is application of real-time water allocation. In fact, the real-time water
allocations have been implemented in Indonesia at the beginning of this millennium under
the framework of JIWMP-BWRM (Java Irrigation Water Management Project –'96 Basin Water
Resources Management), in five selected river basins on Java Island, namely: Ciujung,
Cisanggarung, Jragung, Progo-Opak-Oyo, and Sampean River Basins. The purpose of water
allocation is to obtain a water allocation in a fair and optimal manner. The principle of real-
time water allocation is carried out in a cycle of half-monthly timestep. In this regards, the
half-monthly cycle comprises of four stages of water allocation activities: (i) data acquisition
of the present water demand and water availability; (ii) forecasting of the demand and water
available in the next half-month; (iii) modeling and decision of the water that will be allocated
in next half-month; and (iv) executing the water allocation by adjusting the reservoir release,
weir and the gate setting to meet the planned water allocation scheme. This paper discusses
the state of the modeling of water allocation planning in Indonesia. The techniques implemented
varying from simple proportional allocation scheme to sophisticated linear programming
techniques, while the implementation tools are ranging from spreadsheet to the comprehensive
Geographical Information System, and some others with the aid of FORTRAN programming
language. The analysis concludes that successful implementation of the water allocation
modeling should consider the skill and knowledge of user who will operate the model, the
appreciation of the stakeholders, as well as the complexities of the river basin system per se’.

Keywords: water allocation; water management; real-time; modeling

©
Waluyo Hatmoko, Researcher, Research Institute for Water Resources, Ministry of Public Works; Jl. Ir. H. Juanda 193,
Bandung 40135, Indonesia; Fax: 62-22-2500163 Email: whatmoko@yahoo.com

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 3rd Asian Regional Conference

MODELING OF REAL-TIME WATER ALLOCATION

PLANNING IN INDONESIA

Waluyo Hatmoko©

ABSTRACT

The underlying increase of population and the development of socio-economy

in Indonesia has brought about escalation of water utilization for various water
sectors, such as irrigation, domestic, municipal and industry, fisheries, power, and
environment. On the hand, the scarcity of water constantly triggers the conflict of
water allocation among sectors as well as among regions. One of the non-structural
measures to overcome this problem of allocating precious resources is application of
real-time water allocation.

In fact, the real-time water allocations have been implemented in Indonesia at

the beginning of this millennium under the framework of JIWMP-BWRM (Java
Irrigation Water Management Project – Basin Water Resources Management), in five
selected river basins on Java Island, namely: Ciujung, Cisanggarung, Jragung, Progo- Opak-
Oyo, and Sampean River Basins. The purpose of water allocation is to obtain a
water allocation in a fair and optimal manner.

The principle of real-time water allocation is carried out in a cycle of half- monthly time-step.
In this regards, the half-monthly cycle comprises of four stages of water allocation activities:
(i) data acquisition of the present water demand and water availability; (ii) forecasting of the
demand and water available in the next half-month; (iii) modeling and decision of the water
that will be allocated in next half-month; and (iv) executing the water allocation by adjusting
the reservoir release, weir and the gate setting to meet the planned water allocation scheme

This paper discusses the state of the modeling of water allocation planning in
Indonesia. The techniques implemented varying from simple proportional allocation
scheme to sophisticated linear programming techniques, while the implementation
tools are ranging from spreadsheet to the comprehensive Geographical Information
System, and some others with the aid of FORTRAN programming language.
The analysis concludes that successful implementation of the water allocation
modeling should consider the skill and knowledge of user who will operate the model,

©
Waluyo Hatmoko, Researcher, Research Institute for Water Resources, Ministry of Public Works; Jl. Ir. H.
Juanda 193, Bandung 40135, Indonesia; Fax: 62-22-2500163 Email: whatmoko@yahoo.com

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 3rd Asian Regional Conference

the appreciation of the stakeholders, as well as the complexities of the river basin
system per se’.

Keywords: water allocation; water management; real-time; modeling

I. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

The ever increasing of population and the development of socio-economy in

Indonesia recently, have brought about escalation of water utilization for various
water sectors, such as irrigation, domestic, municipal and industry, fisheries, power,
and environment. On the hand the water available is more or less constant, and even
has been deteriorated in some cases. The scarcity of water constantly triggers the
conflict of water allocation among various sectors as well as among regions. There are
structural measures such as building reservoirs and diversion structures; and non-
structural measures. One of the non-structural measures to overcome this problem of
allocating precious resources is the application of real-time water allocation.
In fact, the real-time water allocations have been implemented in Indonesia at
the beginning of this millennium under the framework of JIWMP-BWRM (Java
Irrigation Water Management Project – Basin Water Resources Management), in the
five selected river basins on Java Island, namely: Ciujung, Cisanggarung, Jragung,
Progo-Opak-Oyo, and Sampean River Basins. The purpose of water allocation is to
obtain a water allocation in a fair and optimal manner.

1.2. Water Allocation Planning

According to the time span of planning, the water allocation planning in Indonesia can
be divided into two stages:
1) Long-term planning, which actually is an annual water allocation planning in RTTG
(Rencana Tata Tanam Global) or Global Annual Planting Plan. This kind of planning is
based on dependable availability of water, usually is taken reliability of 80%. This annual
plan is prepared by Dinas Pengairan Kabupaten (District Water Resources Agency) and
issued by Bupati (head of the district.
2) Real-time planning is a water allocation planning on the latest data available. This rather
intensive activity is required in some region with potential conflict of water, because
experience shows that in reality RTTG might be different with the implementation in the
real-time.

1.3. Real-time Water Allocation Process

The process of real-time water allocation is a continuous feedback process of controlling the
water resources. It can be divided into four distinct steps as follows:
a) Measurement of the system status: is the data collection phase. It gives the water level,
which is converted into river-flows; water available in reservoirs; area, cropping status
and water demand of irrigation; etc.

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b) Forecasting phase: forecast the system status in the period (e.g. next half-month), concerning
river-flow, and water demand for irrigation as well as non-irrigation.
c) Water allocation planning: is the determination or decision to allocate the water. Basically
it is an optimization phase based on the present and the next system status. In this phase,
various optimization techniques such as linear programming, dynamic programming, and
non-linear programming could be applied. However, experience and compromise among
the stakeholder might give better solution.
d) Execution of water allocation: is the action to control the system according to the planned
allocation. This phase is carried out by adjusting the gate setting in the field. The water
allocation execution changes the system status, measured, planned and executed repeatedly
as a continuous process.

Figure 1. Real-time Water Allocation Process

1.4. Basin Water Resources Management

In the framework of a World Bank funded project, Java Irrigation and WaterManagement
Project - Basin Water Resources Management (JIWMP-BWRM), someriver basins in Java
(Ciujung-Cidurian, Cisanggarung, Jragung-Tuntang, Progo-Opak,and Sampean) are selected
as pilot basins for real-time water allocation. The mainobjective of the project is strengthening
the water resources management in the riverbasin, especially in the following aspect: institution,
database management, waterallocation, hydrology, water quality, river maintenance, and
irrigation.

In each of these five basins, the real-time water allocation has been carried outwith the help
of computer models as a decision support system. The computer modelshave been installed
in the five Balai PSDA (Pengelolaan Sumber Daya Air), riverbasin management agencies.
Recently more basins are also carrying out the real-timewater allocation to achieve a fair and
efficient ways of allocating and distributing thewater for various users and among regions.

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The means of planning and executing thereal-time water allocation in those basins might be
different, depending on watermanagement infrastructures, manpower, cultural, social and
institutional aspect.

II. MODELLING WATER ALLOCATION PLANNING

2.1. Real-time Water Allocation Model

A water allocation model is used to assist the process of real-time water allocation
planning. A public domain model WRMM (Water Resources Management Model)
and ad hoc model based on Ms-Excel are applied. In general, the inputs of the water
allocation models are:
a) Schematization of water resources: demand nodes; inflow nodes; infrastructures;river and
canal reaches.
b) Priority of water user
c) Water demand for various water users
d) Inflow at tributaries

The last two data: demand and inflow need to be updated every period. Balai PSDA,
every period collects these data, process, and sends real-time Water Allocation Plan tothe
Cabang-Dinas Pengairan (formerly Ranting Dinas Pengairan) a water resources
agency at the district level in the basin area.

Determinations of the real-time interval period for water allocation management

has to take into account the actual conditions and infrastructures available in the
basin. To be in line with the common irrigation practice, the real-time period
generally is half-monthly for the entire basin in Indonesia, except East Java Province
which use ten days for time interval.

2.2. Water Resources Management Model

Model Description

WRMM (Water Resources Management Model), a public domain water allocation

model was selected and implemented in the five pilot basins. WRMM was developed
by Alberta Environment Protection to serve as a river basin planning tool in Western
Canada to analyze responses of a river basin to varying operating policies or structural
developments. The model is available free of charge. The original version is running
under DOS on any 386 (or better) based PC with minimum 4 MB of RAM, while the
latest version available in the internet is already upgraded into Windows version.
WRMM is a deterministic, steady state, surface water allocation model (Ilich
and Simonovic, 1996). It is a multi-purpose, multi–'D0reservoir simulation model with a nested
optimisation sub-program based on Linear Programming. The WRMM derives
an optimal allocation of water over a discrete set of time intervals subject to physical
constraints (limited water supply and specified water demands) and operational

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constraints (priority of use). The basic concept built into the model is to mimic an
intelligent basin operator who would make a decision regarding reservoir releases and
diversion flows typically once every several days based on the initial reservoir
storage, a forecast of runoff and demands and a distribution policy which conforms to
previously established allocation guidelines.

The deterministic property means that the model relies on estimates of runoff
and demands that are (assumed to be) known for each simulated time-step. Steady
state implies average runoff and demand conditions over a simulated time-step, which
can be any multiple of one day. Shorter time step tend to be better represent realworld
system. The output is a time series of reservoir levels, regulated channel flows
and water consumption within the basin. Each operational policy or structural alternative can
be modeled using a distinct WRMM run.

WRMM can be used as a planning tool that simulates multiple time-step, and
for real-time operation with only one step ahead. For real-time water allocation,
WRMM is implemented to allocate the water for the next time-step, which is half
monthly in West and Central Java, and ten days in East Java.

Model Input: Data input for WRMM is an ASCII file called SCF (Simulation
Control File), which contains physical system configuration, penalty system, water
demand and water supply. The frequently changed data is entered into the model,
using an interface of Ms-Windows based Geographic Information System (GIS)
Mapinfo program. This provides the user with access to the schematization map as a
Mapinfo layer, which can be put together with other layer (geographic, administrative,
etc.).

Priority and Penalty: The water allocation priorities in the model are set up by
specifying the values of the penalties in the input of WRMM model. High penalties
(or priorities) are usually applied for public water supply and industries; and lower
penalties for irrigation areas.

Modelling Formulation

The objective function in the WRMM, as in any linear-programming penalty based

model can be defined as follows:

Minimize: ∑ X(i,j) C(i,j)

Subject to: ∑{X(i,j) – X(j,i)} = 0 (conservation of mass constraints)
U(i,j) ≥'B3 X(i,j) ≥'B3 L(i,j) (flow bound constraint)

Where:
(i,j) = a component zone connecting node i to node j
Xi,j) = the amount of flow (or storage) in zone (i,j)
L(i,j) = minimum flow needed along zone (i,j)
U(i,j) = maximum possible flow along zone (i,j)
C(i,j) = cost (or penalty) applied to unit of flow in (i,j)
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This linear programming problem is then solved using SUPERK algorithm,

which is faster than Out-of-Kilter algorithm.

Model Output and User Interface: Using the Mapinfo interface, the user can enter
the frequently changed data easily using Mapinfo browser or info-tool. The data that
are updated every half-month are:
- Area: area of the irrigation area
- Rate: water demand (liters/s/ha for irrigation; liters/s for others), inflow (m3/s),and water
level in reservoirs (meters).

After running the model, the user can analyze the results from:
- Map window in Mapinfo: shows the schematization map with the discharges inevery river
and canal reaches, water allocated, and k-factors.
- Browser windows in Mapinfo, showing tables of water allocation results.
- Thematic map of water demand fulfillment.
- Bar graph of k-factor (supply/demand ratio)

Ad Hoc Ms-Excel Model

Actually, for a simple water resources scheme, water allocation calculation is rather
straightforward. Inflow from tributaries are summed up; river-flow is subtracted when
there is water extraction; along the river from upstream to the sea. In this case a
spreadsheet model such as Lotus-123 or Ms-Excel would be suitable (Hatmoko,
1998).
The steps in setting-up an Ms-Excel based water allocation model are as follows:
1) Draw the water resources schematization, including river reaches and nodes.There are
some different types of nodes:
a) Irrigation withdrawal node, showing data on: irrigation name; irrigation area (planting
area); unit water requirement (liters/s/ha), and gives calculated information on water
demand (m3/s); allocated water (m3/s); and k-factors (supply/demand).
b) Non-irrigation withdrawal node, showing data on water demand (m3/s) andgives
calculated information on allocated water (m3/s).
c) Inflow node, from upper catchment area, river tributaries, reservoir, and interbasintransfer.
d) Control node: diversion node and reservoir node.
2) Compute the accumulated water demands from the most downstream to upstream.
3) Allocate the water available from upstream to downstream. The allocation scheme decided
in each diversion structures can use one of the following methods:
a) First come first served. This simple method is unfair for the downstream users.
b) Fixed proportion, for example since long time ago, Mataram canal takes 70% of the
discharge in Kali Progo all the time. This provides rather fair method, but the water
requirement in diversion structures may not always be the same all the time.
c) Proportional to the water demand. This fair method requires computation of water
demand from downstream.
d) Trial and error. By adjusting the gate (in the model) by trial and error to achieve balance
distribution value of the k-factor.

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4) Compute the k-factor for the, the ratio of the allocated water and the water demand for
each irrigation area. Ideally, the k-factor for irrigation areas should be the same over a
river basin.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

Starting with the BWRM Project in the year of 1999, there are some riverbasins
have been carrying out the real-time water allocation, or at least in the stage of
preparing the water allocation. The modeling of real-time water allocation planning
in some of the river basins is discussed as follows.

3.1. Western Part of Java

In Western part of Java (Banten and West Java Province), there are some pilot basins
for water allocation: Ciujung-Cidurian, Cisadane, and Cisanggarung.

Ciujung-Cidurian River Basin

The Ciujung river basin in Banten Province, in the western part of Java Island is an
important basin, its diversion structure Pamarayan weir is having responsibility to
support 18,100 hectares of irrigation area as well as public water supply for industrial
city of Cilegon with projected demand of 17 m 3 /s in the year of 2025. The
neighbourhood Cidurian River Basin which is also having 8,800 hectares of technical
irrigation is expected to contribute its water to help Ciujung Basin.

Figure 2. WRMM Model of Ciujung-Cidurian Basin, Banten

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The model used in Ciujung-Cidurian basin is WRMM under the control of

GIS-MapInfo (Figure 2). As one of the pilot basin, under strengthening of the
BWRM Project, the water allocation in this basin runs rather smoothly.

Cisadane River Basin

Cisadane river basin is situated in the East direction of Ciujung and Cidurian basin.
Through Empang weir in the upstream which irrigate 6,600 hectares, and Pasarbaru
weir supplying water for 32,000 hectares of rice field, it also responsible for public
water supply for the growing satellite city of Tangerang that need more than 6 m3/s.

The implementation of WRMM model installed (Figure 3) is having problem

of lack of knowledge and skill of the operator assigned to run the model. Recently the
model has been replaced by an ad-hoc spreadsheet model which is easier to handle.

Figure 3. WRMM Model of of Cisadane River Basin, Banten

Cisanggarung River Basin

Cisanggarung basin is one of the five pilot basin selected for water allocation in the
BWRM project. The former WRMM model shown in Figure 4 is replaced with ad hoc
spreadsheet model recently.

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Figure 4. WRMM Model for Cisanggarung Basin, West Java

3.3. Central Part of Java

In the Central part of Java (Yogyakarta and Central Java Province) , there are some
basin executing real-time water allocation: Jragung-Tuntang, Progo-Opak-Oyo, Kali
Kuto, and Serang-Lusi-Juana. In Jragung-Tuntang previous WRMM model is
replaced with Ms-Excel, while in Progo-Opak-Oyo with strong educated operator still
use WRMM model. The basin of Kali Kuto and Serang-Lusi-Juana is actually outside
the pilot basin and the model developed is the simple spreadsheet model.

Figure 5. Ms-Excel Model for Kali Kuto River in the Central of Java

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Figure 6 . WRMM Model for Jragung-Tuntang Basin in the Central of Java

Figure 7. WRMM Model of Progo-Opak-Oyo Basin

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Figure 8. Ms-Excel Model of Serang-Lusi-Juana Basin

3.4. East Java

In East Java, the pilot basin is Kali Sampean Basin (Figure 9) which is one of the best
water allocation performances during BWRM project. The model used is WRMM
model until now that work well under the qualified staff.

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Figure 9. WRMM Model of Kali Sampean River Basin

IV. CONCLUSION

The lesson learned with the implementation of the water allocation model in
the water allocation process, is that successful implementation of the water allocation
modeling should consider the skill and knowledge of user who will operate the model,
the appreciation of the stakeholders, as well as the complexities of the river basin
system per se’'D5.

REFERENCES

Alberta Environment Protection, Planning Division, 1987. Water Resources Management

Model, Computer Program Description, User Manual, Canada.

Delft Hydraulics, 1998. Ribasim, User Manual, Netherlands

Hatmoko, W., 1990. Real-time Control of Reservoir Systems, a Stochastic Optimal Control
Approach, MSc. Thesis, IHE Delft, Netherlands.

Hatmoko, W., 1998. Simulation Model for Water Allocation using Lotus-123,Proceeding The
Tenth Afro-Asian Regional Conference", ICID, Bali.

Ilich, N. and S. Simonovic, 1996. Optimization of Water Allocation forSustainable Development,

Proceeding of Joint Seminar on Optimization of WaterAllocation for Sustainable
Development, Ministry of Public Works in cooperation with JICA and INACID, Jakarta.

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JICA et al, 1997. The Study for Formulation of Irrigation Development Programin the Republic
of Indonesia, Ministry of Public Works, Jakarta.

Virama Karya PT. et al, 2000. Basin Water Resources Management Project(BWRM) Phase
II, Final Report, Ministry of Settlement and Regional Development, Jakarta.

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