[R] CRAN Task View: Optimization and Mathematical Programming

[Jeff Newmiller]

Rich's email did not reach me, so tagging off of S Ellison's reply...

Take a look at [1] for an example analysis that maximizes the firm yield 
(amount that can be promised and subsequently delivered for irrigation 
delivery each year) subject to required minimum capacity levels (for flood 
protection) and available water input from precipitation. (Yes, it assumes 
an omniscient knowledge of water flows, but estimating future firm yield 
based on historical patterns is standard practice.) This is a classic type 
of problem in civil engineering graduate school... it should not take much 
work to find lots of literature on the topic of water management that 
mentions various optimization techniques that you can then look up via 
such resources as the subject CRAN Task View.

And no, I am not a water specialist either... this was a targeted set 
of materials for illustrating the use of R to an audience of civil 
engineers who were already familiar with these specific problems.

[1] https://github.com/jdnewmil/eci298sp2016 KernClimate.html

On Wed, 6 Feb 2019, S Ellison wrote:

>> Limited water resources need to be apportioned among various competing
>> users
>> (e.g,, agriculture, fish and wildlife, Tribes, potable human water
>> supplies).
> Water management is definitely not my field, but for interest - and 
> maybe to help other folk respond - can I ask what the loss function 
> would look like for this kind of problem? That may suggest particular 
> optimisation approaches.
>
> Steve Ellison
>
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