How is reservoir operation optimized for multiple objectives?

Reservoir optimization balances competing objectives (water supply reliability, flood control, hydropower, environment). Methods: (1) Simulation - evaluate operating rules through historical or synthetic inflows, (2) Linear programming - optimize releases subject to constraints for simplified systems, (3) Dynamic programming - find optimal policy considering state (storage) and decisions (release) over time, (4) Stochastic DP - incorporate inflow uncertainty, (5) Evolutionary algorithms - handle complex, nonlinear multi-objective problems. Rule curves define storage zones and release policies. Real-time operation combines forecasts with optimization. Trade-off analysis using Pareto fronts.