Environmental systems, such as rivers, channel networks, and reservoir cascades, are characterized by our ability to influence their behavior within the boundary conditions given by nature.  

Our demands on the system may be at odds with what the system is able to provide: we may want to use more water than is flowing into the system, for example. Furthermore, demands may also conflict with each other. In a hydro power setting, for instance, spill flows to facilitate fish migration conflict with an operator’s objective to maximize power generation through the turbines. 

This calls for several techniques: 

• Planning ahead using a system model 

• Resolving conflicting constraints and optimization goals 

• Robustness in face of meteorological forecast uncertainty 

RTC-Tools is an open-source toolbox for control and optimization of environmental systems, with a unique focus on the aforementioned key points. System models may be composed from a library of model components, including a variety of shallow water discretizations, reservoir models, hydraulic structures, and water allocation elements. Modelers may implement their own custom elements using the industry-standard Modelica language.