H1 Geography Theme 1: Climate Change and Flooding

Topic: Flooding in the tropics

Lecture 3.2: Impacts and Management of Floods

Key Question 2: Can Floods be Effectively Managed?

Enduring Understanding
Floods cannot be prevented but with a good understanding of a drainage basin, their effects
can be effectively mitigated
Key Concept: Interactions

Sub-Questions and Content Covered

 What are the impacts of socio-economic and environmental effects of floods?
 How can floods be managed through hard and soft-engineering strategies?
 Why are some floods more successfully managed than others?

1) Introduction
 In the last lecture, you have looked at the causes of floods. Floods are the most common
environmental or natural hazard. They account for 40% of all deaths due to natural
disasters and can incur large economic losses. In this lecture and your readings, you will
explore whether it is our misunderstanding and misuse of rivers and their floodplains that
has created this hazard. It is only through the understanding of the causes of floods and
our impact on drainage basins that we can implement more effective flood management
strategies.
 The magnitude of floods has both increased and decreased by human actions in
different locations. Additionally, humans have decided to live in low-lying areas subject to
flooding due to fertile soils (regular flooding makes these areas fertile).
 As seen from Fig. 1, the causes of floods can be very diverse, ranging from drainage
basin characteristics, stream network and channel characteristics. Can you explain how
the factors below can cause floods?

Fig. 1: Flood-intensifying Conditions

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2) What are the Impacts of River Floods?
 Flooding is a regular occurrence in many river systems and can cause many problems
to people living near or at floodplains. The severity of any floods depends on the
response of hillslope runoff production processes to heavy or prolonged rainfall or
snowmelt and to the nature of the area being flooded.

Negative Impacts
There are four main hazards related to flooding:
 Social impacts:
o Injuries and loss of lives:
 During a flood, the force of water can be very large. People and large
objects can be swept away by the water, leading to drowning and injuries
from being battered by floating objects.
 Flooding claims over 20,000 lives a year, and affects 75 million people
globally. It must be noted that less developed countries tend to suffer
more in terms of loss of lives as compared to more developed countries.
 The highest death tolls are recorded in poorer countries which are less
able to cope with floods because they lack the equipment, warning
systems and expertise to deal with floods. In Cambodia, for instance, over
300,000 families were affected by floods in September 2000.
o Water borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery are likely to become more
common during a flood due to contamination through sewage and dead bodies.
Flood water may also allow for mosquitoes to breed resulting in more cases of
diseases like malaria.
o Survivors often live in overcrowded camps, schools and other public buildings.

 Economic impacts
o Flooding does irreparable damage to properties because of its sheer force and
its ability to seep into cracks. This causes buildings to become structurally
weakened and/or inhabitable, and rebuilding is often costly.
o When a flood hit the Czech Republic in July 1997, economic costs were
estimated at about US$3 billion.
o Crippling of national economy (esp if dependent on agriculture) leading to loss of
jobs.

 Environmental impacts:
o Flood waters may contain sewage and dangerous chemicals from industries and
petrol stations. This may lead to catastrophic effects on the environment as many
toxic materials such as paint, pesticide and gasoline can be released into the
rivers, lakes, bays, and ocean, killing maritime life.

Positive Impacts
 Economic impacts:
o The positive impacts of flooding are that it maintains soil fertility by depositing
fresh alluvium and flushing salt out of soils. Floodplains have supported important
civilisations in rivers such as the Euphrates, Ganges, Nile, Tigris and Yangtze.

o Floodplains have locational advantages for settlement building as it is alongside

water source, river transport and for waste disposal. Its flat terrain also makes for
ease of construction of buildings and roads.
*Note: Extract relevant examples from your readings to support your points.
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3) Who Suffers Greater Damages from Floods?
 The concept of risk and vulnerability can be used to answer the question above.
 Risk = Hazard X Vulnerability
 Vulnerability = Exposure x Resistance x Adaptive capacity
 The increase of human habitation in floodplains in the 20thC has led to increased
urban development and population pressure. This means that more people are
now at greater flood risk and the hazard has increased in relative importance
without an actual increase in flood events.
 The extent of impact differs from place to place. In England and Wales, 2% of the
population lives on the floodplain as compared to 10% for the USA. However,
generally in DCs, loss of life is reduced but economic losses can be huge.
 The worst problems occur in Asia where floods damage about 4 million ha of land
each year and affect the lives of over 17 million people. In China, 5 million people
have lost their lives to flooding between 1860 and 1960. The largest death tolls
are recorded in the LDCs where high populations live on floodplains or deltas
with limited flood warning systems.

4) Can Floods be Managed?

Floods management measures can be categorized into 3 main strategies: Prediction,
Mitigation and Response.

4.1 Prediction
a) Flood recurrence interval
 Two questions that water managers ask are, ‘How often can we expect a flood?’ and
‘How severe will the flood be?’
 With long records of discharge, people can calculate the probability of a particular
maximum flow being exceeded.
 In addition, the period of years before the occurrence of another similar flow, the
recurrence interval, can be calculated as follows:
 Rank the records of a river’s discharge over the longest time available, from the
largest peak to the lowest discharge recorded.
 Recurrence interval (years) of discharge z m3/s = number of peaks in the list (n) + 1
Ranked position of discharge z

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For example:
A river had the following The data can be reorganized, and a recurrence
peak discharges between interval computed for each discharge.
1970 and 1979:
Discharge
Year
(cubic foot)
1970 81,806
1971 123,006
1972 75,806
1973 112,006
1974 99,706 Reorganise
1975 114,006
1976 57,406
1977 95,106
1978 147,006
1979 112,006

Calculate the Recurrence Interval for each discharge.

In this case, n is 10, because we are using 10 years of data.

 For example, if we have a 50 year annual series, the recurrence interval of a flood of the
same or greater magnitude than the 10th largest annual flood in the series is (50+1)/10
= 5.1. This means that there is a 1 in 5.1 chance (19.6%) that a flood of this magnitude
or larger will occur in any one year and that on average, there will be one such flood
every 5.1 years.
 The recurrence interval is thus a method based on statistical probability to determine the
time interval for floods of a certain magnitude
– Recurrence intervals can be plotted on a log-normal graph paper to help people
predict floods.
– The larger the flood, the longer the time interval between flooding events of similar
magnitudes
 Usually based on past records (especially hydrograph records), but could be
extrapolated to calculate different magnitude floods, especially of those that has not yet
occurred (in our life span) E.g. a 200-year flood or 500-year flood

 Limitations:
– Accuracy of this method depends on the amount of past data available. Greater
accuracy with more records
o Also means that changes in the climate conditions and basin characteristics
(both natural and human) must be updated and the data is adjusted accordingly
for it to be accurate. But it is usually difficult to do so.
o Predicting flood risk is very difficult especially in a changing climate. E.g. if a
flood of a particular size has occurred twice in the past hundred years it might be
called the 1 in a 50 year flood. However, with changing climate (or land
management), the same size flood could occur 20 times (1 in a 5 year flood).
The difficulties of predicting flood risk are of major importance to humans
because designs of flood defence are often based on flood occurrence intervals.
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b) Storm Hydrographs and river regimes
 By studying the characteristics of peaks in storm
– Height above bankfull discharge à the magnitude of the floods
– Number of peaks à the frequency of flooding
 The combination of precipitation amounts, frequency and intensities together with the
lag-time, rising limb and falling limb characteristics could also indicate the time taken for
the river, during a given storm, to rise to flood levels and the length of time it tends to
stay flooded
 From this, one could work out a predictive table.

c) Satellite Images
 A growing archive of satellite imagery allows scientists to map floods and produce long-
term trends. With increased sophistication of satellite technology, accurate images of
flood extent on the ground can be obtained and flood information of river basins can be
updated regularly.
 By allowing aid agencies and hydrologists access to flood maps, flood patterns can be
monitored and future trends anticipated.
o High cost for compensation payments as well as for re-building structures.

Figure 2

4.2 Mitigation
Mitigation strategies can be classified as hard engineering or soft engineering measures.

a) Hard-engineering options
 Building of structures to improve the efficiency of the channel and prevent floods.
 Often aesthetically unpleasing, expensive and short-term.
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 Channelisation  Channelisation is the overall process of channel
improvement.
 The aim is to design a new channel (increased volume or
increased efficiency) which can carry a flood peak flow.
 Some changes made to river channels include:
i. Cutting a new channel for the excess water while leaving the

original channel for the ‘normal’ flow or

ii. Modifying the channel by:

 Realignment: It is the straightening of a reach of a river,
and is often achieved by removing bars or cutting off
meanders. This increases channel gradient by providing a
shorter path, which increases flow velocities and transport
capacity.
 Re-sectioning of river: the widening and deepening of the
river channel. This increases the capacity of the water at a
specific section of the river.
 Smoothening the channel bed to reduce friction
 Deepening and widening a channel to allow it to carry more
water (dredging).
 Diverting the river away from settlements and building
overflow channels which take surplus water out of a river in times
of flood. It is effective if there is a spare piece of land which is not
in use.

Disadvantages:
 Expensive options
 Altering the river channel may lead to a greater risk of
flooding downstream, as the water is carried there faster.
 Area may be built-up and hence it may not be feasible to
carry out these options.
 Loss of habitats as a result of re-alignment and bank
reinforcements (i.e. Revetments)
 Reduction in landscape quality

Dam construction  Dams and their reservoirs: provides flexible surface storage
capacity and allow for the regulation of flows.
 This water can then be used to generate hydroelectric power or
for recreation purposes.
 Most of the world’s major rivers are dammed and dams do
reduce channel flows further downstream.
Disadvantages:
 Building a dam can be very expensive.
 Settlements and agricultural land may be lost when the river
valley is flooded to form a reservoir. In mountainous regions,

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 this could mean loss of white-water rapids and recreational
sections of a river.
 Dams in warm and arid climates lose more water to
evaporation than free-flowing streams.
 Sedimentation reduces the effective capacity of a reservoir
(reduce capacity to hold water) and shorten a dam’s life span.
 Sediment is often trapped behind the wall of the dam, leading
to erosion further downstream as the water leaving a dam
carries less sediment load and thus has more erosive power.
 Dam failure can cause flash floods downstream.

Leeves and other  Embankments (or artificial leeves) are raised banks along the
Forms of Flood river and they effectively make the river deeper so it can hold
Defences more water. E.g. Embankments are built along Bangladesh’s
main rivers
 Flood Walls are more solid versions of embankments that are
built around housing and factories. However unsightly, they are
effective. They are often lined with stone or concrete.
 Flood-proofing the area at risk of flooding. Eg. Constructing
buildings on stilts, sealing walls or having flood-control gates on
underground structures.

Disadvantages:
 They are expensive and they do not look natural but they do
protect the land around them.
 Should the leeves or embankments break, it can worsen flood
damage.

The following are some examples of structural controls for flood management.

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 Figure 3: Possible Structural Controls along a River

Although structural controls are more costly and have negative effects, they are still needed
to protect humans, goods and properties.

b) Soft-engineering options (or non-structural control)

 However, merely relying on hard engineering measures is inadequate. Floods still occur
due to rising sea levels. Modern approaches are moving away from hard engineering
methods and favour environmental approaches like the restoring of meanders or other
natural features of the river instead. There is a realization that flood events are a part of
nature and that human interference into the processes of nature should be reversed,
compensated and in the future, prevented.
 Although some form of structural controls are important, non-structural control measures
need to be used as well in order to mitigate the effects of floods successfully.
 Soft engineering generally refers to working with natural processes and features rather
than attempts to control them. Non-structural control measures include management of
the whole catchments (catchment management plans), landuse zoning policies,
restoration of wetlands and rivers to allow managed flooding and flood warning systems.
They are potentially more efficient and long term and hence are more sustainable
solutions to water-related problems.

Afforestation  Trees are planted near to the river. This means greater
interception of rainwater and lower river discharge. This is
a relatively low cost option, which enhances the
environmental quality of the drainage basin.

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 Managed flooding (also  Managed flooding is a measure to allow the river to flood
called ecological naturally in places, to prevent flooding in other areas - for
flooding) example, near settlements.
 Restoration projects have taken place along the Rhine, the
Kissimmee River and for smaller streams (River Skerne
and River Cole) in the UK. Wetlands have been restored to
help with flood control, storage of sediments and help to
purify water, support wildlife biodiversity and recharging of
groundwater.

Land use planning and  Local authorities and the national government introduce
zoning policies to control urban development close to or on the
floodplain. This reduces the chance of flooding and the risk
of damage to property.

Disadvantages:
 There can be resistance to development restrictions in
areas where there is a shortage of housing.
 Enforcing planning regulations and controls may be harder
in LEDCs.
Flood Warning  Land use planning restricts the use of floodplains to land
uses which will not be damaged by flooding like leisure
uses and wildlife areas. This reduces the chance of
flooding and the risk of damage to property.
 Before floodwaters arrive, flood forecasting systems can
help reduce the impact of floods with the dissemination of
flood warnings to the police, emergency services, local
authorities and the public. See Fig. 2 for a flood
forecasting system.
 Early warning systems have also improved with some
countries using text messages to warn communities of
predicted flooding. E.g. The Flood Forecast and Warning
Center (FFWC) in Bangladesh has adopted a new flood
forecasting system for the 2014 monsoon season. The
system was developed by SERVIR, a joint development
initiative of NASA and USAID that helps developing
countries use information provided by Earth observing
satellites to address environmental issues, including
natural disasters. Text messages are used to warn people
of floods or cyclones.

 The effectiveness of flood forecasting and warning systems

depends on the level of preparedness and correct
response. The responsible authorities should provide
timely and reliable flood warning, flood forecasting and
information.

 Floodplain zoning involves dividing the floodplain into

areas which experience different degrees of flood risk (Fig.
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 5). In the highest-risk areas, development is excluded.
These buffer zones located along the edge of river
channels on the floodplain can be of the order of 25-50m
wide. Some of these areas may be used as natural
floodwater storage areas and wetlands, which may reduce
flooding downstream.
 In the outer areas of the floodplain where there is reduced
risk of flooding, regulations are put in place to minimize
flood problems. E.g. flood-proofing of buildings, flood
insurance and contingency planning.

Advantages of flood zoning:

 Cheap and effective method for new developments

Disadvantages:
 Unrealistic for urban areas:
o Resistance from owners who have to relocate
from a floodplain location.

 Examine Figure 4 below and discuss the effects of a managed river and a natural
river in mitigating flood impacts.

Figure 4a: A Managed River

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 Figure 4b: A Free-flowing River

Fig. 5: Floodplain zoning management approach

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4.3 Response
a) Rescue and Relief Operations
 After floods have occurred, evacuation plans can be implemented.
 Search-and-rescue is carried out as an immediate response to floods before the
provision to victims of food, basic hygiene amenities and medical care by the local
governments and aid agencies to help them deal with the aftermath of floods.
– The 2007 floods in India and China drew responses from governments who pledged
to increase expenditure on flood prevention measures and risk management.
– Aid has also arrived in these countries with the help of international organisations like
the ‘Red Cross,’ the ‘United Nations’ and ‘Save the Children’ who have appealed for
cash donations amid warnings of food and medical shortages in countries like India
and China

b) Flood Insurance
 A premium is paid over time to spread the costs. However, this may encourage
people to live on the floodplain rather than developing land elsewhere.
 In high-risk areas, flood insurance may not be available as insurance companies do
not want to bear the high financial risks. Governments and international action is
likely to be needed in such circumstances.
 In addition, flood insurance is not affordable to the poor especially in developing
countries.

5. Conclusion
 From the previous and current lecture, we have seen how river floods are caused,
their impacts and the ways to manage it.

 Different interest groups have different views about flood management techniques:

o Governments and developers often favour large hard engineering options,

such as dam building. Building a dam and a reservoir can generate income.
Profits can be made from generating electricity or leisure revenue.
o Environmental groups and local residents often prefer softer options, such as
planting trees. Soft options cause little damage to the environment and do not
involve the resettlement of communities.

 There is increasing realization that floods are natural events that can only be
mitigated not prevented. Hence, human uses of floodplains should be adapted to the
existing hazards.

 Generally, effective flood management strategies should be economically,

environmentally and socially sustainable. Sustainable strategies allow management
without compromising the needs of future generations. It is also important to consider
whole catchments and not just single parts of catchment.

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