Monday 03 / March / 2025
Muscat: Among the many various innovative research projects in the 11th National Research Award organised by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, ‘A Robust Decision-Making Framework to Improve Reservoir Water Quality Using Optimised Selective Withdrawal Strategies’ by principal investigator Dr. Mohammad Reza Nikoo, Associate Professor at the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), was awarded in the Environmental and Biological Resources field in the PhD category.
Dr. Mohammad Nikoo mentioned that in arid locations such as the Sultanate of Oman, improving the quality of water released from reservoirs is a challenge.
This study, focused on Wadi Dayqah Dam, aimed to develop reliable operational guidelines for releasing water that meets downstream quality and quantity requirements.
Dr. Mohammad and his research team aimed to improve reservoir water quality, identify vulnerable outlets and optimal release strategies, and enhance resilience to climate change impacts.
Using a combination of multi-objective optimisation (NSGA-II), the CE-QUAL-W2 model, and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), the research team simulated and optimised water withdrawal strategies.
A Robust Decision-Making (RDM) framework identified vulnerable outlets and water release ratios under various climate change scenarios.
The findings of the study revealed that activating multiple reservoir outlets reduces pollutant concentration and improves water quality.
Also, water released from low and mid-level outlets is more vulnerable to pollutants compared to surface outlets, and a strategic release of smaller volumes from lower outlets and larger volumes from upper outlets enhances operational stability and robustness.
Through this study, Dr. Mohammad recommended adopting flexible and optimised water release strategies under changing climate conditions to ensure reliable water delivery. The study was published in the Journal of Hydrology in 2024 with an impact factor of 6.4.
The research team consist of Dr. Mohammad Reza Nikoo, Ms. Nafiseh Bahrami, Prof. Kaveh Madani, Dr. Ghazi Al Rawas, Dr. Sadegh Vanda, and Prof. Rouzbeh Nazari.
Regarding his win, Dr. Mohammad Nikoo stated that “winning the National Research Award is a significant honour that highlights the relevance and impact of our research. It inspires me and my team to continue working on innovative solutions that address critical water and environmental management challenges. It is also a recognition of our collective efforts and encourages us to contribute further to science and society.”
