Centralised and decentralised control of the Broken River

In this paper centralised Model Predictive Control (MPC), tuned in two different ways, and a decentralised control scheme are proposed for the control of the Broken River in Victoria, Australia. The control objective is to improve water resource management for the benefit of irrigators and the environment. The controllers are designed based on simple time delay and integrator delay models. The controllers are evaluated in realistic simulation scenarios and compared to manual operation. The use of control offers increased operational flexibility with a significant potential for substantial water savings, improved level of service to irrigators and improved environmental benefits.