The decision support tool MINDS for flood management in the upper Rhone river

The Upper Rhone River is located in the Swiss Alps. Several hydropower schemes with large reservoirs were built in the catchment area, strongly influencing its hydrological regime. In past decades, several floods caused disasters in the catchment area. The MINERVE project aims to improve the flood protection safety, focusing on their prediction. Furthermore, the multi-reservoir system is optimally managed to limit or avoid damages during floods. A “Decision Support Tool” called MINDS has been developed for real-time decision making based on the hydrological forecasts. It proposes preventive measures as turbine and bottom outlet operations to the hydropower plants operators to provide an optimal storage capacity. The goal is to retain inflowing floods in reservoirs and to stop release during the peak flow. Such a reservoir management thus reduces the peak discharges in the Rhone River, thereby limiting the damages.