Predictive methods for real-time flood operation of water systems consisting of reservoirs located in parallel on tributaries to the main river are presented and discussed. The aspect of conflicting individual goals of the local decision units and other objectives important from an overall point of view is taken into account. The particular attention is focused on hierarchical control structure which provides framework for organization of an on-line reservoir management problem. The important factor involved in flood control the uncertainty with respect to future inflows is taken into consideration. A case study of the upper Vistula river basin system in the southern part of Poland is presented. Simulation results based on 11 historical floods are briefly described and discussed. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996