Flood control (or flood mitigation or flood protection or flood alleviation) methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. [1] [2] Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water levels. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and runoff. A distinction is made between structural and non-structural flood control measures. Structural methods physically restrain the flood waters, whereas non-structural methods do not. Building hard infrastructure to prevent flooding, such as flood walls, is effective at managing flooding. However, increased best practice within landscape engineering is to rely more on soft infrastructure and natural systems, such as marshes and flood plains, for handling the increase in water. To prevent or manage coastal flooding, coastal management practices have to handle natural processes like tides but also the human-caused sea level rise.
Flood control and relief is a particularly important part of climate change adaptation and climate resilience. Both sea level rise and changes in the weather (climate change causes more intense and quicker rainfall) mean that flooding of human infrastructure is particularly important the world over. [3]
In environmental engineering, flood control involves the management of flood water movement, such as redirecting flood run-off through the use of floodwalls and flood gates, rather than trying to prevent floods altogether. It also involves the management of people, through measures such as evacuation and dry/wet proofing properties. The prevention and mitigation of flooding can be studied on three levels: on individual properties, small communities, and whole towns or cities.
There are a number of similar terms that are all used interchangeably: Flood control, flood mitigation, flood protection and flood alleviation are all terms that mean "the detention and/or diversion of water during flood events for the purpose of reducing discharge or downstream inundation". [4] They include methods that are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. [1]
A distinction is made between structural and non-structural flood mitigation:
Flood management (or flood risk management) is a broader term that includes mitigating and preparing for flooding disasters, and providing risk analysis for example through the practice of flood risk assessment. [6] In the context of natural hazards and disasters, risk management involves "plans, actions, strategies or policies to reduce the likelihood and/or magnitude of adverse potential consequences, based on assessed or perceived risks". [7]
Floods are caused by many factors or a combination of any of these generally prolonged heavy rainfall (locally concentrated or throughout a catchment area), highly accelerated snowmelt, severe winds over water, unusual high tides, tsunamis, or failure of dams, levees, retention ponds, or other structures that retained the water. Flooding can be exacerbated by increased amounts of impervious surface or by other natural hazards such as wildfires, which reduce the supply of vegetation that can absorb rainfall.
During times of rain, some of the water is retained in ponds or soil, some is absorbed by grass and vegetation, some evaporates, and the rest travels over the land as surface runoff. Floods occur when ponds, lakes, riverbeds, soil, and vegetation cannot absorb all the water.
This has been exacerbated by human activities such as draining wetlands that naturally store large amounts of water and building paved surfaces that do not absorb any water. [8] Water then runs off the land in quantities that cannot be carried within stream channels or retained in natural ponds, lakes, and human-made reservoirs. About 30 percent of all precipitation becomes runoff [9] and that amount might be increased by water from melting snow.Flooding has many impacts. It damages property and endangers the lives of humans and other species. Rapid water runoff causes soil erosion and concomitant sediment deposition elsewhere (such as further downstream or down a coast). The spawning grounds for fish and other wildlife habitats can become polluted or completely destroyed. Some prolonged high floods can delay traffic in areas which lack elevated roadways. Floods can interfere with drainage and economical use of lands, such as interfering with farming. Structural damage can occur in bridge abutments, bank lines, sewer lines, and other structures within floodways. Waterway navigation and hydroelectric power are often impaired. Financial losses due to floods are typically millions of dollars each year, with the worst floods in recent U.S. history having cost billions of dollars.
Property owners may fit their homes to stop water entering by blocking doors and air vents, waterproofing important areas and sandbagging the edges of the building. Private precautionary measures are increasingly important in flood risk management. [10]
Flood mitigation at the property level may also involve preventative measures focused on the building site, including scour protection for shoreline developments, improving rainwater in filtration through the use of permeable paving materials and grading away from structures, and inclusion of berms, wetlands or swales in the landscape. [11]
When more homes, shops and infrastructure are threatened by the effects of flooding, then the benefits of protection are worth the additional cost. Temporary flood defenses can be constructed in certain locations which are prone to floods and provide protection from rising flood waters. Rivers running through large urban developments are often controlled and channeled. Water rising above a canal's full capacity may cause flooding to spread to other waterways and areas of the community, which causes damage. Defenses (both long-term and short-term) can be constructed to minimize damage, which involves raising the edge of the water with levees, embankments or walls. The high population and value of infrastructure at risk often justifies the high cost of mitigation in larger urban areas.
The most effective way of reducing the risk to people and property is through the production of flood risk maps. Most countries have produced maps which show areas prone to flooding based on flood data. In the UK, the Environment Agency has produced maps which show areas at risk. The map to the right shows a flood map for the City of York, including the floodplain for a 1 in 100-year flood (dark blue), the predicted floodplain for a 1 in 1000 year flood (light blue) and low-lying areas in need of flood defence (purple). The most sustainable way of reducing risk is to prevent further development in flood-prone areas and old waterways. It is important for at-risk communities to develop a comprehensive Floodplain Management plan. [12]
In the US, communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program must agree to regulate development in flood-prone areas.
One way of reducing the damage caused by flooding is to remove buildings from flood-prone areas, leaving them as parks or returning them to wilderness. Floodplain buyout programs have been operated in places like New Jersey (both before and after Hurricane Sandy), [13] Charlotte, North Carolina, [14] and Missouri. [15]
In the United States, FEMA produces flood insurance rate maps that identify areas of future risk, enabling local governments to apply zoning regulations to prevent or minimize property damage.
Buildings and other urban infrastructure can be designed so that even if a flood does happen, the city can recover quickly and costs are minimized. For example, homes can be put on stilts, [16] electrical and HVAC equipment can be put on the roof instead of in the basement, and subway entrances and tunnels can have built-in movable water barriers. [17] New York City began a substantial effort to plan and build for flood resilience after Hurricane Sandy. [18] Flood resilience technologies support the fast recovery of individuals and communities affected, but their use remains limited. [19]
Flooding can occur in cities or towns as urban flooding. It can also take place by the sea as coastal flooding. Sea level rise can make coastal flooding worse. In some areas there are also risks of glacial lake outburst floods.
There are many adaptation options for flooding: [20]
More frequent drenching rains may make it necessary to increase the capacity of stormwater systems. This separates stormwater from blackwater, so that overflows in peak periods do not contaminate rivers. One example is the SMART Tunnel in Kuala Lumpur.
New York City produced a comprehensive report for its Rebuilding and Resiliency initiative after Hurricane Sandy. It includes making buildings less prone to flooding. It also aims to make specific problems encountered during and after the storm less likely to recur. These include weeks-long fuel shortages even in unaffected areas due to legal and transportation problems, flooded health care facilities, insurance premium increases, damage to electricity and steam generation and distribution networks, and flooding of subway and roadway tunnels. [28]Some methods of flood control have been practiced since ancient times. [2] These methods include planting vegetation to retain extra water, terracing hillsides to slow flow downhill, and the construction of floodways (man-made channels to divert floodwater). [2] Other techniques include the construction of levees, lakes, dams, reservoirs, [2] retention ponds to hold extra water during times of flooding.
Many dams and their associated reservoirs are designed completely or partially to aid in flood protection and control. Many large dams have flood-control reservations in which the level of a reservoir must be kept below a certain elevation before the onset of the rainy/summer melt season to allow a certain amount of space in which floodwaters can fill. Other beneficial uses of dam created reservoirs include hydroelectric power generation, water conservation, and recreation. Reservoir and dam construction and design is based upon standards, typically set out by the government. In the United States, dam and reservoir design is regulated by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Design of a dam and reservoir follows guidelines set by the USACE and covers topics such as design flow rates in consideration to meteorological, topographic, streamflow, and soil data for the watershed above the structure. [29]
The term dry dam refers to a dam that serves purely for flood control without any conservation storage (e.g. Mount Morris Dam, Seven Oaks Dam).
Excess water can be used for groundwater replenishment by diversion onto land that can absorb the water. This technique can reduce the impact of later droughts by using the ground as a natural reservoir. It is being used in California, where orchards and vineyards can be flooded without damaging crops, [30] or in other places wilderness areas have been re-engineered to act as floodplains. [31]
In many countries, rivers are prone to floods and are often carefully managed. Defenses such as levees, bunds, reservoirs, and weirs are used to prevent rivers from bursting their banks. A weir, also known as a lowhead dam, is most often used to create millponds, but on the Humber River in Toronto, a weir was built near Raymore Drive to prevent a recurrence of the flood damage caused by Hurricane Hazel in October 1954.
The Leeds flood alleviation scheme uses movable weirs which are lowered during periods of high water to reduce the chances of flooding upstream. Two such weirs, the first in the UK, were installed on the River Aire in October 2017 at Crown Point, Leeds city centre and Knostrop. The Knostrop weir was operated during the 2019 England floods. They are designed to reduce potential flood levels by up to one metre. [32]
Coastal flooding has been addressed with coastal defenses, such as sea walls, beach nourishment, and barrier islands.
Tide gates are used in conjunction with dykes and culverts. They can be placed at the mouth of streams or small rivers, where an estuary begins or where tributary streams, or drainage ditches connect to sloughs. Tide gates close during incoming tides to prevent tidal waters from moving upland, and open during outgoing tides to allow waters to drain out via the culvert and into the estuary side of the dike. The opening and closing of the gates is driven by a difference in water level on either side of the gate.
The self-closing flood barrier (SCFB) is a flood defense system designed to protect people and property from inland waterway floods caused by heavy rainfall, gales, or rapid melting snow.[ citation needed ] The SCFB can be built to protect residential properties and whole communities, as well as industrial or other strategic areas. The barrier system is constantly ready to deploy in a flood situation, it can be installed in any length and uses the rising flood water to deploy.
When permanent defenses fail, emergency measures such as sandbags or inflatable impermeable sacks are used.
In 1988, a method of using water to control flooding was discovered. This was accomplished by containing 2 parallel tubes within a third outer tube. When filled, this structure formed a non-rolling wall of water that can control 80 percent of its height in external water depth, with dry ground behind it. Eight foot tall water filled barriers were used to surround Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station during the 2011 Missouri River Flooding. Instead of trucking in sandbag material for a flood, stacking it, then trucking it out to a hazmat disposal site, flood control can be accomplished by using the on site water. However, these are not fool proof. A 8 feet (2.4 m) high 2,000 feet (610 m) long water filled rubber flood berm that surrounded portions of the plant was punctured by a skid-steer loader and it collapsed flooding a portion of the facility. [33]
In 1999, a group of Norwegian engineers patented a transportable, removable, and reusable flood barrier which uses the water's weight against itself. This removable flood panels protect cities and public utilities. [34] [ promotion? ]
Other solutions, such as HydroSack, are polypropylene exteriors with wood pulp within, though they are one-time use. [35]
There are several methods of non-structural flood control that form part of flood risk management strategies. These can involve policy that reduces the amount of urban structures built around floodplains or flood prone areas through land zoning regulations. [6] [10] This helps to reduce the amount of mitigation needed to protect humans and buildings from flooding events. Similarly, flood warning systems are important for reducing risks. [6] Following the occurrence of flooding events, other measures such as rebuilding plans and insurance can be integrated into flood risk management plans. [6] Flood risk management strategy diversification is needed to ensure that management strategies cover several different scenarios and ensure best practices. [36]
Flood mapping is a tool used by governments and policy makers to delineate the borders of potential flooding events, allowing educated decisions to prevent extreme flooding events. [37] Flood maps are useful to create documentation that allows policy makers to make informed decisions about flood hazards. [38] Flood mapping also provides conceptual models to both the public and private sectors with information about flooding hazards. [39] Flood mapping has been criticized in many areas around the world, due to the absence of public accessibility, technical writing and data, and lack of easy-to-understand information. However, revived attention towards flood mapping has renewed the interest in enhancing current flood mapping for use as a flood risk management method. [38]
Flood modelling is a tool used to model flood hazard and the effects on humans and the physical environment. [40] Flood modelling takes into consideration how flood hazards, external and internal processes and factors, and the main drivers of floods interact with each other. Flood modelling combines factors such as terrain, hydrology, and urban topography to reproduce the evolution of a flood in order to identify the different levels of flooding risks associated with each element exposed. [41] The modelling can be carried out using hydraulic models, [42] conceptual models, [43] or geomorphic methods. [44] Nowadays, there is a growing attention also in the production of maps obtained with remote sensing. [45] Flood modelling is helpful for determining building development practices and hazard mitigation methods that reduce the risks associated with flooding. [46]
Stakeholder engagement is a useful tool for flood risk management that allows enhanced public engagement for agreements to be reached on policy discussions. [47] Different management considerations can be taken into account including emergency management and disaster risk reduction goals, interactions of land-use planning with the integration of flood risks and required policies. [38] In flood management, stakeholder engagement is seen as an important way to achieve greater cohesion and consensus. [48] Integrating stakeholder engagement into flood management often provides a more complex analysis of the situation; this generally adds more demand in determining collective solutions and increases the time it takes to determine solutions. [47]
Flood risk management (FRM) aims to reduce the human and socio-economic losses caused by flooding and is part of the larger field of risk management. Flood risk management analyzes the relationships between physical systems and socio-economic environments through flood risk assessment and tries to create understanding and action about the risks posed by flooding. The relationships cover a wide range of topics, from drivers and natural processes, to models and socio-economic consequences. [ vague ]
This relationship examines management methods which includes a wide range of flood management methods including but are not limited to flood mapping and physical implication measures. [49] FRM looks at how to reduce flood risk and how to appropriately manage risks that are associated with flooding. Flood risk management includes mitigating and preparing for flooding disasters, analyzing risk, and providing a risk analysis system to mitigate the negative impacts caused by flooding. [49]
Flooding and flood risk are especially important with more extreme weather and sea level rise caused by climate change as more areas will be effected by flood risk. [50]
The costs of flood protection rise as more people and property are to be protected. The US FEMA, for example, estimates that for every $1.00 spent on mitigation, $4.00 is saved. [51]
An elaborate system of flood way defenses can be found in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The Red River flows northward from the United States, passing through the city of Winnipeg (where it meets the Assiniboine River) and into Lake Winnipeg. As is the case with all north-flowing rivers in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, snow melt in southern sections may cause river levels to rise before northern sections have had a chance to completely thaw. This can lead to devastating flooding, as occurred in Winnipeg during the spring of 1950. To protect the city from future floods, the Manitoba government undertook the construction of a massive system of diversions, dikes, and flood ways (including the Red River Floodway and the Portage Diversion). The system kept Winnipeg safe during the 1997 flood which devastated many communities upriver from Winnipeg, including Grand Forks, North Dakota and Ste. Agathe, Manitoba.[ citation needed ]
In the United States, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the lead flood control agency. [52] After Hurricane Sandy, New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) initiated multiple flood barrier projects to protect the transit assets in Manhattan. In one case, the MTA's New York City Transit Authority (NYCT) sealed subway entrances in lower Manhattan using a deployable fabric cover system called Flex-Gate, [53] a system that protects the subway entrances against 14 feet (4.3 m) of water. [54] Extreme storm flood protection levels have been revised based on new Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines for 100-year and 500-year design flood elevations. [55] [56]
In the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, 35 percent of which sits below sea level, is protected by hundreds of miles of levees and flood gates. This system failed catastrophically, with numerous breaks, during Hurricane Katrina (2005) in the city proper and in eastern sections of the Metro Area, resulting in the inundation of approximately 50 percent of the metropolitan area, ranging from a few inches to twenty feet in coastal communities.
The Morganza Spillway provides a method of diverting water from the Mississippi River when a river flood threatens New Orleans, Baton Rouge and other major cities on the lower Mississippi. It is the largest of a system of spillways and floodways along the Mississippi. Completed in 1954, the spillway has been opened twice, in 1973 and in 2011.[ citation needed ]
In an act of successful flood prevention, the federal government offered to buy out flood-prone properties in the United States in order to prevent repeated disasters after the 1993 flood across the Midwest. Several communities accepted and the government, in partnership with the state, bought 25,000 properties which they converted into wetlands. These wetlands act as a sponge in storms and in 1995, when the floods returned, the government did not have to expend resources in those areas. [57]
In Kyoto, Japan, the Hata clan successfully controlled floods on the Katsura River in around 500 A.D and also constructed a sluice on the Kazuno River. [58]
In China flood diversion areas are rural areas that are deliberately flooded in emergencies in order to protect cities. [59]
The consequences of deforestation and changing land use on the risk and severity of flooding are subjects of discussion. In assessing the impacts of Himalayan deforestation on the Ganges-Brahmaputra Lowlands, it was found that forests would not have prevented or significantly reduced flooding in the case of an extreme weather event. [60] However, more general or overview studies agree on the negative impacts that deforestation has on flood safety - and the positive effects of wise land use and reforestation. [61] [62]
Many have proposed that loss of vegetation (deforestation) will lead to an increased risk of flooding. With natural forest cover the flood duration should decrease. Reducing the rate of deforestation should improve the incidents and severity of floods. [63]
In Egypt, both the Aswan Low Dam (1902) and the Aswan High Dam (1976) have controlled various amounts of flooding along the Nile River.
Following the misery and destruction caused by the 1910 Great Flood of Paris, the French government built a series of reservoirs called Les Grands Lacs de Seine (or Great Lakes) which helps remove pressure from the Seine during floods, especially the regular winter flooding. [64]
London is protected from flooding by Thames Barrier, a huge mechanical barrier across the River Thames, which is raised when the water level reaches a certain point. This project has been operational since 1982 and was designed to protect against a surge of water such as the North Sea flood of 1953.
In 2023 it was found that over 4,000 flood defence schemes in England were ‘almost useless’ with many of them in areas hit by Storm Babet. [65]
The Saint Petersburg Dam was completed in 2008 to protect Saint Petersburg from storm surges. It also has a main traffic function, as it completes a ring road around Saint Petersburg. Eleven dams extend for 25.4 kilometres (15.8 mi) and stand 8 metres (26 ft) above water level.
The Netherlands has one of the best flood control systems in the world, notably through its construction of dykes. The country faces high flooding risk due to the country's low-lying landscapes. [66] The largest and most elaborate flood defenses are referred to as the Delta Works with the Oosterscheldekering as its crowning achievement. These works in the southwestern part of the country were built in response to the North Sea flood of 1953. The Dutch had already built one of the world's largest dams in the north of the country. The Afsluitdijk closing occurred in 1932.
New ways to deal with water are constantly being developed and tested, such as the underground storage of water, storing water in reservoirs in large parking garages or on playgrounds, [67] [68] Rotterdam started a project to construct a floating housing development of 120 acres (0.49 km2) to deal with rising sea levels. [69] Several approaches, from high-tech sensors detecting imminent levee failure to movable semi-circular structures closing an entire river, are being developed or used around the world. Regular maintenance of hydraulic structures, however, is another crucial part of flood control. [70]
Flooding is the greatest natural hazard in New Zealand (Aotearoa), [71] and its control is primarily managed and funded by local councils. [72] Throughout the country there is a network of more than 5284 km of levees, [73] while gravel extraction to lower river water levels is also a popular flood control technique. [74] [75] The management of flooding in the country is shifting towards nature based solutions, [76] such as the widening of the Hutt River channel in Wellington. [77]
A levee, dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure used to keep the course of rivers from changing and to protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river or coast. It is usually earthen and often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines.
A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrology and are of significant concern in agriculture, civil engineering and public health. Human changes to the environment often increase the intensity and frequency of flooding, for example land use changes such as deforestation and removal of wetlands, changes in waterway course or flood controls such as with levees, and larger environmental issues such as climate change and sea level rise. In particular climate change's increased rainfall and extreme weather events increases the severity of other causes for flooding, resulting in more intense floods and increased flood risk.
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect or store water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions.
The Delta Works is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta from the sea. Constructed between 1954 and 1997, the works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dykes, levees, and storm surge barriers located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland.
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high discharge. The soils usually consist of clays, silts, sands, and gravels deposited during floods.
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a program created by the Congress of the United States in 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP has two purposes: to share the risk of flood losses through flood insurance and to reduce flood damages by restricting floodplain development. The program enables property owners in participating communities to purchase insurance protection, administered by the government, against losses from flooding, and requires flood insurance for all loans or lines of credit that are secured by existing buildings, manufactured homes, or buildings under construction, that are located in the Special Flood Hazard Area in a community that participates in the NFIP. U.S. Congress limits the availability of National Flood Insurance to communities that adopt adequate land use and control measures with effective enforcement provisions to reduce flood damages by restricting development in areas exposed to flooding.
A reservoir is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, usually built to store fresh water, or it may be a natural formation.
Surface runoff is the unconfined flow of water over the ground surface, in contrast to channel runoff. It occurs when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when the soil is saturated by water to its full capacity, and the rain arrives more quickly than the soil can absorb it. Surface runoff often occurs because impervious areas do not allow water to soak into the ground. Furthermore, runoff can occur either through natural or human-made processes.
The environmental impact of reservoirs comes under ever-increasing scrutiny as the global demand for water and energy increases and the number and size of reservoirs increases.
Dam removal is the process of demolishing a dam, returning water flow to the river. Arguments for dam removal consider whether their negative effects outweigh their benefits. The benefits of dams include hydropower production, flood control, irrigation, and navigation. Negative effects of dams include environmental degradation, such as reduced primary productivity, loss of biodiversity, and declines in native species; some negative effects worsen as dams age, like structural weakness, reduced safety, sediment accumulation, and high maintenance expense. The rate of dam removals in the United States has increased over time, in part driven by dam age. As of 1996, 5,000 large dams around the world were more than 50 years old. In 2020, 85% percent of dams in the United States are more than 50 years old. In the United States roughly 900 dams were removed between 1990 and 2015, and by 2015, the rate was 50 to 60 per year. France and Canada have also completed significant removal projects. Japan's first removal, of the Arase Dam on the Kuma River, began in 2012 and was completed in 2017. A number of major dam removal projects have been motivated by environmental goals, particularly restoration of river habitat, native fish, and unique geomorphological features. For example, fish restoration motivated the Elwha Ecosystem Restoration and the dam removal on the river Allier, while recovery of both native fish and of travertine deposition motivated the restoration of Fossil Creek.
Howard A. Hanson Dam is an earthen embankment dam on the Green River, 21 miles (34 km) east of Auburn, Washington. The dam was completed in 1961 and its primary purpose is flood control along with water supply for Tacoma, Washington.
Coastal flooding occurs when dry and low-lying land is submerged (flooded) by seawater. The range of a coastal flooding is a result of the elevation of floodwater that penetrates the inland which is controlled by the topography of the coastal land exposed to flooding. The seawater can flood the land via several different paths: direct flooding, overtopping of a barrier, or breaching of a barrier. Coastal flooding is largely a natural event. Due to the effects of climate change and an increase in the population living in coastal areas, the damage caused by coastal flood events has intensified and more people are being affected.
Coastal hazards are physical phenomena that expose a coastal area to the risk of property damage, loss of life, and environmental degradation. Rapid-onset hazards last a few minutes to several days and encompass significant cyclones accompanied by high-speed winds, waves, and surges or tsunamis created by submarine (undersea) earthquakes and landslides. Slow-onset hazards, such as erosion and gradual inundation, develop incrementally over extended periods.
A detention dam is a dam built to catch surface runoff and stream water flow to regulate the water flow in areas below the dam. Detention dams are commonly used to reduce the damage caused by flooding or to manage the flow rate through a channel. Detention dams can also be constructed to replenish groundwater and trap sediment. Detention dams are one of three classifications of dams: storage dams, diversion dams, and detention dams. Storage dams store water for extended times for irrigation, livestock, municipal water supply, recreation, and hydroelectric power generation. Diversion dams raise the water level to redirect the water to a designated location. The diverted water typically supplies irrigation systems or reservoirs.
Japan is the country that is most affected by natural disasters mainly due to it being in the Ring of Fire. Two out of the five most expensive natural disasters in recent history have occurred in Japan, in 1995 and 2011, costing $181 billion. Japan has also been the site of some of the 10 worst natural disasters of the 21st century. Many types of natural disasters occur in Japan such as tsunamis, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, cyclones, and even volcanic eruptions. The country has gone through thousands of years of natural disasters, affecting its economy, development, and social life. Some other major disasters in Japan were more recent, such as the January 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
The combination of topographic and climatic factors in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area have frequently caused major flash flooding, especially near streams that normally drain the area. The city was founded atop a bluff on the Arkansas River. Thus, elevation protected most of the inhabitants and their possessions from damage when the river flooded. However, by the turn of the 20th century the population growth had moved closer to the river, and the flatlands west of the Arkansas had begun to develop as well. The floods typically caused widespread property damage and sometimes death. By the 1920s, seasonal floods of the Arkansas began to cause serious damage and loss of life. Since its founding, city leaders had responded to such events by simply rebuilding and replacing the property that had been destroyed in situ. Not until 1970 did the city government begin developing strategies to mitigate floods or at least minimize property damage and prevent loss of life. This article describes some of the more notable floods in Tulsa, then the mitigation and control strategies that evolved from them.
The Fargo-Moorhead (FM) Area Diversion project, officially known as the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Diversion Flood Risk Management Project, is a large, regional flood control infrastructure project on the Red River of the North, which forms the border between North Dakota and Minnesota and flows north to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada.
The Central Valley in California subsides when groundwater is pumped faster than underground aquifers can be recharged. The Central Valley has been sinking (subsiding) at differing rates since the 1920s and is estimated to have sunk up to 28 feet. During drought years, the valley is prone to accelerated subsidence due to groundwater extraction. California periodically experiences droughts of varying lengths and severity.
Sedimentation enhancing strategies are environmental management projects aiming to restore and facilitate land-building processes in deltas. Sediment availability and deposition are important because deltas naturally subside and therefore need sediment accumulation to maintain their elevation, particularly considering increasing rates of sea-level rise. Sedimentation enhancing strategies aim to increase sedimentation on the delta plain primarily by restoring the exchange of water and sediments between rivers and low-lying delta plains. Sedimentation enhancing strategies can be applied to encourage land elevation gain to offset sea-level rise. Interest in sedimentation enhancing strategies has recently increased due to their ability to raise land elevation, which is important for the long-term sustainability of deltas.
Urban flooding is the inundation of land or property in a built environment, particularly in more densely populated areas, caused by rainfall overwhelming the capacity of drainage systems, such as storm sewers. Urban flooding is a condition that is characterized by its repetitive and systemic impacts on communities, that can happen regardless of whether or not affected communities are located within designated floodplains or near any body of water. It is triggered for example by an overflow of rivers and lakes, flash flooding or snowmelt. During the flood, stormwater or water released from damaged water mains may accumulate on property and in public rights-of-way, seep through building walls and floors, or backup into buildings through sewer pipes, toilets and sinks.
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