INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL DATA RESCUE ORGANIZATION eNEWSLETTER

Throughout history, floods have proven to be the deadliest of natural disasters. The deadliness of flooding is primarily due to the congregation of human population around rivers and coastal areas. These areas provide the resources needed for agriculture, transportation, and industry so it is no accident that all of the ancient civilizations arose around rivers (World Meteorological Organization, p. 14). Catastrophic floods caused by a variety of meteorological and hydrological events, such as hurricanes, cyclones, high winds, sustained or intense precipitation, have been in the headlines around the world in the past century. This, together with the fact that the "livelihood of a vast share of the world's population depends, directly and indirectly, on a number of natural resources that are generally provided by floodplains as well as on the income generated" (World Meteorological Organization, p. 14) by these areas, means flooding still accounts for untold suffering and an ever increasing loss of property, life and natural resources.

With the ever increasing pressure being put on floodplains by growing human populations and agricultural and industrial activities, the past practices of localized piecemeal flood management approach is becoming less effective and more cost prohibitive. Moreover, with the advances that have been made in the study and understanding of flood mechanics as well as growing concern over the mismanagement of the natural resources in floodplain areas, flood management is being looked at from a more regional, national and even international perspective. A more holistic approach for flood management is being advocated by many national and international agencies. Flood management should cover plans and actions by local, regional and national authorities before, during and after flooding. Every decision that influences a hydrological basin must be taken into account when planning for flood management and how these decisions will even influence the surrounding area (World Meteorological Organization, p. 15). With such an approach though, comes the problem of managing such plans and implementing policies that will affect the lives of those people that live within these regions.

Integrated Flood Management

Integrated Flood Management (IMF), as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), integrates land and water resources development in a river basin with the goal of maximizing the efficient use of floodplains and minimizing loss of life and property (World Meteorological Organization, p. 4). This process encourages the participation of users, planners and policymakers at all levels. The approach should be open, transparent, inclusive and communicative, decentralizing decision-making and including public consultation of stakeholders in planning and implementation. We will take a brief look at the policies and flood management plans that two different countries have taken.

This developed country has focused on preventing flooding through the use of dikes and other structures. After each flood, the dikes have been raised and if required, investments in those areas would be increased. As a result of a major flood from the North Sea in 1953 which caused the deaths of more than 1800 people, flooding practices and structures were legally mandated to "withstand water levels related to a discharge with a return time of 1250 years" (De Bruijn, p. 1). The practices taken for any area would depend on the flooding risk in the area and the total avoidance of any flooding events. Flood risk would be reassessed every 5 years. As pointed out in the paper titled Resilient Flood Risk Management Strategies though, this policy had several disadvantages and should now be changed to more resilient flood risk management practices.

The current plans for flooding call for the same level of protection for different areas within the country. Therefore cities, agricultural and nature preserves are all protected to the same degree, resulting in a sizeable economic investment without regard to the consequences of flooding for these different areas. In addition, since most efforts are focused on the prevention of flooding, not enough consideration might have been put forth for the eventuality of a flood occurring and the plans required for that possibility. This might also cause a false sense of security in the people which could be negated by the changes occurring in global climate. The limitations put on the river systems through the use of dikes and stream changes have also led to a gradual increase in the narrowed flood plain levels, which necessitates an increase in the height of the protective dikes. Rather than just concentrating on the prevention of floods, a resilient flood management is being advocated. In the proposal, resilience should be incorporated into flood management planning such that the system has the ability "to return to a normal situation after flooding of a part of the area caused by a peak discharge." Focus should be put on planning to reduce the impacts of floods on an area and speeding the recovery process. Impacts could be reduced through the use of warning systems, evacuation plans, better spatial planning and redirection of flood waters. Plans will be redirected to "living with floods" ( De Bruijn, pp. 4&5).

Integrated Flood Management

Integrated Flood Management

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