INTEGRATED FLOOD MANAGEMENT

Main factors on which the Integrated Flood Management concept is based

Factors that contribute to increasing flood disasters in flood plains

Flood hazards are caused by natural events, which transform into disasters through complex
interactions between social, economic, political and environmental processes. A strategy for
flood management deals with flood hazards and also have strong links with national social,
economic and other development policies.

Disaster prevention and mitigation due to floods help in the prevention of disasters and reduce
the vulnerability of the society.

Vulnerability of people to floods

It is the vulnerability of the community at risk that determines the extent of the flood disasters.
Vulnerability is caused by a combination of;

 physical factors such as exposure to floods, degree of protection from flood hazards,
quality of infrastructure available, degree of access to resources, and abilty to avoid,
withstand or recover from the flood hazards
 Socio-economic factors like acute poverty, high population density, lack of education,
poor planning and management of agricultural and farm lands, poor quality of
agricultural inputs and technology and absence of access to modern technological
options to cope with the situation increases the vulnerability of the population to floods.
 Occupation also plays a role, for example, fishermen whose occupation requires them
to live close to rivers and other water bodies, are more at risk than others who are far
and are therefore more vulnerable.
 People are also unaware of adaptation measures used elsewhere that can help in living
with floods

Factors contributing to increasing Flood disasters

1, Population pressure: Intensive economic use of the flood plains for agriculture and livestock
farming

2, Deteriorating infrasructure: Lack of systematic and routine maintenance of flood dykes,

makes them susceptible to breaches even during floods of lower magnitudes than the design
floods
3, Environmental degradation of watersheds: caused by uncontrolled and unregulated human
activities, especially large-scale deforestation and cultivation practices, resulting in:

 Increased flood peaks

 Reduced flood carrying capacity of the rivers due to excessive siltation of their beds
 Shifting river courses causing erosion of dykes

The Concept of Integrated Flood Management (IFM)

Traditionally, flood management has focused on controlling floods in terms of draining flood
water as quickly as possible to the next water body, store flood water temporarily, or to separate
the river from the population in terms of river engineering works. Another emphasis has been on
emergency response and recovery once a flood occurs. Even though the declared goal of such
efforts has been to reduce economic flood losses there is an overwhelming body of evidence that
suggests that floods can never be fully controlled and that alongside economic development the
flood losses have a natural tendency to rise.
It is now widely recognized that a paradigm shift is required from defensive action and flood
control to the integrated management of floods. The need for this paradigm shift is the
inspiration behind the concept of Integrated Flood Management, which seeks to integrate land
and water resources development in a river basin within the context of Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM) in order to maximize the net benefits from flood plains, with
flood risk awareness, and minimizing the loss of life from flooding.
This module provides a general introduction to the concept of Integrated Flood Management
(IFM) and explains:
 why many traditional approaches to flood management failed
 the ever persisting and emerging new challenges that flood managers face and the need
for a new approach to flood management
 the objectives of the IFM approach
 the principles of the IFM approach
 the requirements of adopting the IFM approach and its implementation

IFM Objectives
Integrated Flood Management aims at:
 sustainable development: balancing development needs and flood risks
 minimizing loss of life from flooding
 maximizing the net benefits from flood plains, meaning to subordinate flood loss
reduction to the overall goal of maximizing the efficient use of floodplains
 environmental preservation: maintaining or restoring healthy rivers and ecosystem
services in support of livelihoods
In order to achieve these objectives an integrated flood management plan should be based on the
following principles:
  Integrate land use planning and water management
 Manage the water cycle as a whole and not just the design floods
 Overcome administrative and disciplinary boundaries
 Adopt a best mix of strategies
 Incorporate risk management principles
 Ensure a participatory approach
 Adopt a multi-hazard approach

The Challenges of Flood Management

The challenges flood managers face can be summarized as follows:
 Population growth, the need for enhanced economic activity for livelihood and food
security, and the construction of infrastructure exert considerable pressure on the natural
system and increase the damage potential on flood plains.
 Climate change tends to intensify the hydrological cycle, potentially resulting in increase
in magnitude and frequency of extreme flood events or changes in the seasonality of
floods. Sea level rise affects the flood risk of coastal areas and estuaries.
 Absolute protection from flooding is neither technically feasible nor economically and
environmentally viable.
 The poorest and most vulnerable people are the ones that are exposed to flooding as they
have no other choice but to settle in the most exposed areas.
 The shortage of alternative land for economic activities in many countries, means for
those countries that abandoning flood-prone areas cannot be a sustainable option for
flood management.
 Rapid urbanization and large-scale urban sprawl with ever more impervious
surfaces leading to accelerated runoff and accentuate downstream flood peaks.
 Need to preserve or restore riverine ecosystems that provide many services such as: water
purification, food, flood mitigation and recreational benefits.
 Large-scale deforestation driven by farming, mining or urbanization results in larger
sediment yields which reduce the discharge capacity of the conveyance system.
 Decision making is increasingly becoming multi-dimensional and concerned with
resolving multiple, often conflicting, objectives.

Putting Integrated Flood Management

into Practice
What is needed to implement IFM?
 Clearly formulated and agreed IFM objectives at the policy and strategic level, embedded
into a appropriate legislation and institutional arrangements.
  Platform for cooperation and coordination among institutions responsible for different
administrative units within a river basin which rarely coincide and various sectoral
institutions that are involved in the management of floods.
 Appropriate mechanism for public investment, economic incentives, knowledge
enhancement and sharing and enforcing regulations through various instruments.
 Community based institutions to facilitate participation of different sections of society in
the IFM Process.
 Information management and exchange among various stakeholders and the scientific
communities.

Legal and Institutional Aspects

Law, as a vehicle for orderly change, plays a vital role for flood management at the local,
regional, national and international levels. Factors that must be taken into account in the various
decision-making and planning processes should be set out in law, along with details of the
relevant procedures that must be followed. Responsibilities of a variety of actors need to be
defined clearly and unambiguously. Without an appropriate legal regime, accountability and
transparency cannot be ensured, and the rights, powers and obligations of all actors involved,
along with relevant standards of performance, cannot be clearly and unambiguously set out. The
graph below illustrates the different roles of the law in Integrated Flood Management. The
process of enacting relevant laws will largely differ between countries, political systems, legal
system and whether the national level is concerned or not.
 Legal and institutional aspects of IFM at the national level
The basic elements for which a legal and institutional framework for flood management at the
national level should provide for.
 Legal and institutional aspects of IFM at the international level
Key legal and institutional issues that are most relevant to flood management at the international
level.

Social Aspects and Stakeholder Involvement

Social issues form an integral part of the flood management process. Next to the existence of a
flood hazard it is the community's vulnerability. i.e. the degree of capacity to anticipate and
to cope with flood risks, which determines the socio-economic consequences of
flooding. Therefore, IFM requires a profound understanding of societal vulnerability to flooding
in order to find appropriate options for managing flood risks. Given the high influence of social
aspects in flood issues it becomes more and more recognized that the success of flood
management measures highly depends on the involvement of all stakeholders in the decision
making process. Participatory planning is a basic principle of the IFM approach.
The social norms and values also determine the level of risk a particular community is able to
accept when faced with floods, how well the negative impacts can be overcome and how well the
positive effects of floods and floodplain use can be utilized and shared.
 Social Aspects addresses the following questions:
o How do floods affect people and their livelihoods? What are the positive impacts
of floods, what are the negative impacts?
o How do social aspects contribute to flood risks?
o What is vulnerability and what are the contributing factors?
o What can be done to reduce vulnerability?

Stakeholder Involvement aims to answer the following questions:

o Why is stakeholder involvement important, what objectives are pursued and
which benefits are expected?
o Which stakeholders need to be engaged and what kind of role can they play?
o What are the levels and methods for their engagement?
o How can legal and institutional frameworks facilitate participation?
o Why is stakeholder capacity building important and how can it be built?
o What challenges are likely to hinder the participation process?

Environmental Aspects of IFM

Until recently, flood management has been engineering-centered; largely relying on structural
measures (e.g. embankments, bypass channels, dams and reservoirs) and with little or no
consideration being given to the environmental and socio-economic effects of the selected
strategy.

The adverse impacts of some of the structural measures and the growing concern for sustainable
development have highlighted the need to explicitly address the impact of flood control and
protection measures on the environment in a comprehensive manner. The result is a shift from
“flood control” towards “integrated flood management” as a development policy.

In this context the following questions are addressed:

 Why is the conservation of ecosystems important? And how can development needs and
environmental conservation be balanced?
 What is the role of different ecosystems in the generation of floods and how can sound
ecosystems contribute to flood mitigation?
 What are the environmental consequences of structural flood management measures and
how can adverse impacts be mitigated?
 What is needed to factor environmental considerations into decision-making processes?
It is recognized that there are no universal solutions for environment-friendly flood management
practices. It is crucial to adopt practices that suit particular circumstances in a given hydro-
climatic, topographical and socio-economic setting in a basin. Therefore, this module provides
the basic elements of a rational and balanced way of addressing environmental issues in flood
management.
Environment and Sustainable Development
Ecosystems are a foundation of human existence. Human security and well-being are closely
related to maintaining ecosystems and avoiding environmental degradation. Since socio-
economic development can lead to very severe impacts on the environment, it is essential to
factor environmental aspects into development planning in order to balance development
imperatives and environmental preservation.
There are a number of concepts and approaches which highlight the importance of sound
ecosystems and aim to reconcile socio-economic development with environmental preservation;
the most important concepts include:
 Sustainable Development
 Ecosystem Services
 The Ecosystem Approach

Sustainable Development
The concept of “sustainable development” has been at the centre of the 'environment and
development' debate since the "UN Conference on the Human Environment" in Stockholm in
1972:
"Sustainable development is: the development that meets the needs of the present, without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. At the same time, “the
right to development is an inalienable human right and an integral part of fundamental human
freedoms”

Human development is closely related to and dependent on our natural surroundings and
resources, including water, land, flora, fauna and the climatic conditions. Much development in
the past has taken place at the expense of natural resources, and has affected natural ecosystems
and their ecological functions. It is increasingly recognized that present and future development
needs have to be fulfilled in conjunction with environmental protection in order to guarantee
human security in the mid and long term.

From the flood management perspective, environmental degradation has the potential to threaten
human security in many different ways:
 First, it can alter the magnitude and frequency of floods.
 Second, by affecting other components of human security such as economic and food
security (e.g. land degradation affecting agricultural productivity) and public health (e.g.
polluted water), it increases the vulnerability of those exposed to such hazards.
Adequate consideration of environmental impacts in flood management activities is therefore a
vital contribution to sustainable development and human security.

Flood Management Interventions and Ecosystems

Structural flood management measures have been the favoured flood management options in the
past. Although they continue to play a vital role in protecting people on flood plains against
frequent flooding, the ecological impacts of these measures become apparent as well.
Many structural flood management measures have the potential to cause unintended
hydrological, morphological and environmental impacts, with further significant impacts on
socio-economic development. This is not an argument that should be used to disqualify structural
solutions but merely to raise awareness of the full consequences their establishment has - in
support of informed decision-making.
Some of the environmental consequences of structural flood control and protection works such
as
 dams and reservoirs
 embankments
 detention and retention basins
 bypass and diversion channels
 channelization
These options affect the environment, especially in terms of flow regime, sediment transport,
water quality and biodiversity. It also explores possible options to avoid, reduce or mitigate the
negative consequences. Eventually, some non-structural flood management measures are also
discussed, particularly with respect to how they help in protecting the environment. The
individual sub-chapters place focus on the options for mitigation of negative environmental
impacts within the spatial limits of one chosen measure. This way of presentation has been
chosen based on the assumption that those measures will have been determined as indispensable
to implement a flood management strategy.

Dams and Reservoirs

Dams are constructed across valleys or rivers to store, regulate and divert water for various
purposes such as agricultural production, hydropower generation, human and industrial use
and flood peak attenuation. Most dams serve multiple purposes. The task of dams to deliver
water at the time of need for human use interferes with the normal ecological functions of
the river. The construction of dams and reservoirs may lead to adverse impacts on the
following aspects of riverine ecosystems:
Flow regime:
 Reduced seasonal variability of flow, i.e. low flows increased and high flow decreased
 Increased flow fluctuations at hourly and daily timescales
 Change in frequency and timing of floods
(impacts depend on reservoir capacity and dam design and operation)
Sediment load and channel structure:
 All sediment but the wash load fraction is trapped in the reservoir
 Reduced sediment downstream leads to possible accelerated bed degradation and bank erosion
immediately downstream of a dam
 Encroachment by riparian vegetation, decreasing the channel’s conveyance capacity
 Possible coastal erosion
Water quality:
 Constantly cold water released from deep layers of the reservoir reduces the temperature variability of
downstream river water
 Possible accelerated eutrophication, due to the reservoir incorporating and trapping nutrients
  Water turbidity is decreased, which can lead to increased primary productivity
 Reservoir will export plankton downstream, changing availability of food resources
(most impacts on water quality depend on a reservoir’s retention time)
Habitat, biodiversity and natural resources:
 River species largely replaced by lake species in reservoir
 Native river species reliant on natural flow regime will disappear downstream of the dam
 Changes in thermal regime affects many species, e.g. invertebrates
 Short-term flow fluctuations (de-watering) result in stranding of organisms, in case of a hydropower dam
 Most silt and organic matter is retained in reservoir, instead of fertilizing flood plains
 Floodplain structure and functioning is changed, as flooding is reduced or eliminated
 Dams sever the longitudinal connectivity of the river which impedes or hinders the passage of fish and
invertebrates along the river course

Possible Mitigation Measures

 Managed flow releases by reservoir operation, leading to seasonal variability of flow
 Multiple and/or depth-selective intake structures for maintaining the natural seasonal temperature regime of
released flows in reaches below dams, as well as water quality
 Allowing for fish passage over weirs and dams, in both directions
 Appropriate sediment bypassing devices
 Bypassing large woody debris

Embankments
Embankments (also referred to as levees or dykes in some countries) are constructed mainly from earth and used to
confine stream flow within the specified area along the stream, or to prevent flooding due to sea waves or tides. Since
early times, embankments have played a vital role in protecting people on flood plains against frequent flooding and
continue to be the most favoured flood management option. However, the construction of embankments is a
substantial intervention in the riverine ecosystem which may result in the following impacts:
Flow regime:
 Higher water stages and velocities at above bank full flows
 Flood peaks increased downstream
Sediment load and channel structure:
 Loss of connectivity between river and flood plain
 Loss of pool and riffle patterns and other heterogeneities in channel form
 Increased erosion possible (both local scour and overall degradation)
 Possible sedimentation downstream, of material eroded in embanked reach
Water quality:
 Loss of exchange of nutrients and carbon with flood plain
Habitat, biodiversity and natural resources:
 Loss of floodplain refuges and spawning areas for river species
 Loss of floodplain forests
 All floodplain structures, processes and species needing frequent inundation are affected
 No more silt deposition on flood plain
 No more habitat creation on the flood plains