Flood control of rivers with Model Predictive Control

This paper shows that Model Predictive Control (MPC) can more effectively be used for flood prevention in comparison with a three-position controller. Because MPC takes rain predictions into account, it uses the buffer capacity of the available flood basins in a more optimal way. Simulation results for historical data for the Demer, a river in Belgium with a history of large floodings, show a significant reduction of the number and the impact of floodings when MPC is used. Because the river models behave strongly nonlinear, it is necessary to use a nonlinear model predictive controller. Furthermore, as rainfall predictions tend to be less predictable over longer periods, it is necessary to extend MPC to Multiple MPC in order to cover this uncertainty.