Thesis (Ph. D.)--Utrecht University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-171).

Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-57).

Flooding poses one of the greatest natural hazard dangers to Canadians. As human populations increase and concentrate in areas vulnerable to floods, and uncertainty about future flood risk increases with the possibility of a changing climate, major urban communities, coastal settlements and communities located within floodplains are faced with an even greater risk of floods in the coming years. Canada's policies and practices towards flood control are best described as ad hoc, and have developed over the years in response to experiences with floods. No national scale flood damage reduction program exists, and there is currently no opportunity for Canadian homeowners to purchase flood insurance. This study specifically examines how a national mitigation strategy, focused mainly on non structural techniques could help decrease damages from floods in Canadian communities. The strategy proposed here is theoretically based in EPC and IBC suggestions for a greater national mitigation strategy, as well as IDNDR research, and federal, provincial and municipal goals for sustainable development and sound land use planning objectives. Ideally, a successful non structural flood mitigation strategy for Canada would address issues at the national scale, yet be implementable at the local level in accordance with community needs, risk characteristics, and local expertise. The strategy proposed here would maximize the efficiency of federal resources and private industry as well as allow local expertise and existing mitigation schemes to be formalized, bolstered and improved. There are three major components of the non structural flood mitigation strategy. Risk avoidance measures such as early warning systems, land use and resource planning and ecological conservation all work towards reducing the chances of a dangerous flood occurring. Risk spreading measures help communities deal with flood risks by improving equity and accountability, they include tax incentives, disaster financial assistance, and flood insurance. Lastly, vulnerability reduction measures help reduce damages if a flood were to strike, and these include enforcement of building codes and the maintenance of existing protective infrastructure. An integrated, non structural flood mitigation strategy would require basin-wide cooperation between all levels of government, citizens and the private sector. This strategy is also an opportunity for communities and individuals to meet goals of environmental conservation and sustainable development. The focus in this study lies on the mitigation tools, although it is the overall process of inserting the premise of mitigation into all land use and planning decision making processes that will be the key to successful flood mitigation strategies in Canadian communities.

This thesis examines the influence of lithology on debris torrent occurrence. The analysis covers a thirty-year period in 80 supply-limited basins distributed in the 400 km2 Tsitika River watershed, on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Two bedrock types occur in the watershed, the Igneous Intrusive and the extrusive Karmutsen formations, covering forty-nine and fifty-one percent respectively. The debris torrent source basins are unlogged. The frequency data were obtained in the field using dendrochronological evidence of debris torrents. Field data were compared with data derived from air photographs, the latter were found to be unrepresentative of debris torrent occurrence and were not used. All study basins were digitised from 1 : 20 000 Terrain Resource Inventory Maps (TRIM), and were characterised by selected morphometric parameters. Results show that geology exerts significant control over the temporal and spatial occurrence of debris torrents in the Tsitika watershed; the Karmutsen formation is more prolific. Geology also was found to exert significant control over the runout area and volume of debris torrents. Climate, morphometry and surficial materials do not appear to be confounding parameters. Differences in weathering rates, infiltration patterns and detrital grain-size distribution associated with the two bedrock types are believed to account for the differences in debris torrent behaviour.

All land uses affect storm water runoff However, different uses of the same site generate varying amounts of runoff Many communities have come to rely upon detention and/or retention basins for controlling the additional runoff resulting from land development. It is argued that this incremental approach to storm water management must be replaced with a more proactive long-term view.To achieve this, more user-friendly software capable of modeling the effect long-range land use plans have on the volume and behavior of storm water runoff is needed. This software, called a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS), must be capable of guiding the user, who may not be an expert at runoff analysis, through the process and also capable of generating output in various formats understandable by lay persons. This study utilizes a systems analysis technique to develop a theoretical framework for the Storm Water SDSS. / Department of Urban Planning

This project explores one method of controlling flooding of Pipe Creek in Alexandria, Indiana. The method used is one of placing wetlands and grass filters within one subwatershed of Pipe Creek to reduce peak discharge and the time to peak discharge. A computer program called Sedimot II was used to determine the peak discharge for the Thurston Ditch subwatershed of Pipe Creek. Both 10 and 50 year 24 hour storms were studied. Following the construction of base line hydrographs for both storm events, four examples of wetland and grass filter placement were shown for the watershed. Hydrographs were then produced for all four alternatives for both 10 and 50 year storms. Recommendations were then made on how these examples could be used in the rest of the Pipe Creek watershed to further reduce the potential for flooding in Alexandria. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Model-based reservoir management systems are indispensable for determining an optimal water resources management in river basins with multipurpose reservoirs. A recently developed management system will be described, using evolutionary algorithms to optimize both event-based and long-term operation of a reservoir system concerning multiple objectives with different units of measurement (Money, Dimensions, Ecology). The result are sets of so-called Pareto optimal solutions which represent the most useful compromises and can serve as a transparent information base for decision-making. In order to improve the ecological performance of multipurpose reservoirs, a dynamic operating scheme is implemented, which ensures that reservoir releases correspond to natural flow variability as far as possible. In addition water quality problems during the flood discharge and the release from selected layers of the water body will be discussed in brief.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Göttingen, 2006/2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 194-214).

Thesis (M.Eng. (Hons.)) -- University of Western Sydney, 2008. / A thesis submitted towards the degree of Master of Engineering (Honours) in the University of Western Sydney, College of Health and Science, School of Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2006. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-291).