The purpose of this practicum is about developing a resource for future riverfront development through the integration of ecological erosion control techniques, flood design strategies and insightful planning principles. With a new outlook on protection solutions and design opportunities for riverfront spaces, the Red River will return as the ecological spine of Winnipeg, ensuring the health and longevity of our future River City.

Floods are a recurrent natural disaster in Guatemala. Heavy and prolonged rainfall often results in floods that affect people’s life and property. Several institutions and policy instruments at local, national or transnational level address flood management. The purpose of this study is to provide useful insights of the institutional aspects of integrated flood management at local, national and transboundary level in Guatemala. Papers I and II, explore institutions at local level, paper III at national level, while paper IV addresses flood management institutions at transboundary level. This research found that for the local and national level, there are several institutions concerned with flood management. In contrast, at transboundary level, and especially for international rivers, flood management institutions are largely absent. At local level, the Local Councils for Development (COCODEs, the acronym in Spanish) are responsible for flood prevention and preparation. While some municipalities are active in flood prevention, response and recovery activities, their limited economic and technical resources restrict their scope of action.  Local stakeholders such as COCODEs, farmers groups and other actors are largely neglected in the decision making process. The National Coordinator for Risk Reduction to Disasters (CONRED, Coordinadora Nacional para Reducción de Desastres), the Secretariat for Planning and Programming of the Presidency (SEGEPLAN, Secretaría de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia), the Guatemalan Ministry of Infrastructure and other national institutions are in charge of planning and implementing flood management strategies, leaving public involvement of local actors mainly to public consultation. At the Central American level, the Coordination Centre for Natural Disasters Prevention in Central America (CEPREDENAC, Centro de Coordinación para la Prevención de Desastres Naturales en América Central), an institution part of the Central American Integration System (SICA by Spanish acronym), shall promote transboundary cooperation regarding disaster management, including flood management. However, transboundary flood management faces several challenges: territorial disputes and sovereignty issues over international rivers are significant obstacles to the implementation of integrated flood management programs.

Natural Flood Management (NFM) is promoted as part of sustainable flood management (SFM) in response to climate change adaptation. Stakeholder engagement is central to this approach, and current trends are progressively moving towards a collaborative learning approach where stakeholder participation is perceived as one of the indicators of sustainable development. Within this methodology, participation embraces a diversity of knowledge and values underpinned by a philosophy of empowerment, equity, trust and learning. To identify barriers to NFM uptake, there is a need for a new understanding on how stakeholder participation could be enhanced to benefit individual and community resilience within SFM. This is crucial in the light of climate change threats and scientific reliability concerns. In contributing to this new understanding, this research evaluated eight (8) UK NFM case studies towards improving understanding of opportunities in involving communities in catchment-based working. An NFM strategy for participatory planning was developed from literature, findings from the UK studies and refined through a scenario development for a case study application in Taraba state, Nigeria using the constructivist model. Stakeholder and inter-agency collaboration for flood management in Taraba were investigated through interview methodology: 8 governmental agencies and 32 community leaders in Potentially Vulnerable Areas (PVA’s) of the state. Findings show some institutional weaknesses, which are seen to inhibit the development of adequate, flood management solution locally with damaging implications for vulnerable communities. The existences of weak institutional structures with poor coordination of the lead agency to effect change are identified as problematic within this context. Findings highlight a dominate top-bottom approach to management with very minimal public interactions. Current approaches are remedial with less emphasis on prevention and mitigation. The targeted approach suggested by the constructivist risk model is set against adaptive flood management and community development. The finding of the study suggests different agencies have different perspectives for “community participation”. It also shows communities in the case study area appear to be least influential, denied a real chance of discussing their situations and influencing the decision. This is against the background that the communities are located in the most productive regions, contributing massively to national food supplies. Stakeholder engagement and resilience planning underpin this research. The study explores dimensions of participation using the self-reliance and self –help approach to develop a methodology that facilitates reflections of currently institutionalised practices and the need to reshape spaces of interactions to enable empowered and meaningful participation. The results are discussed concerning practical implications for addressing interagency partnerships and conducting grassroots collaborations that empower local communities and seek solutions to development challenges.

In a changing climate with an increasing risk of flooding, developing a sustainable approach to flood management is paramount. Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) present a change in thinking with regards to drainage; storing water in the urban environment as opposed to rapidly removing it to outflows. The Non-Statutory Standards for SuDS (DEFRA 2015a) presented a requirement for all developments to integrate SuDS in their design to reduce runoff. This research models the impact on water quantity of combining different SuDS devices to demonstrate their success as a flood management system, as compared to conventional pipe based drainage. The research uses MicroDrainage®, the UK industry standard flood modelling tool which has an integrated SuDS function, to simulate the role of SuDS in a management train. As space is often cited as the primary reason for rejecting SuDS, determining the most effective technique at reducing runoff is critical. Detention basins were concluded as being highly effective at reducing peak flow (150 l/s when combined with swales), however Porous Pavement Systems (PPS) was nearly twice as effective per m3, reducing peak flow by up to 0.075 l/s/m3 compared to 0.025 l/s/m3. This therefore suggests that both detention basins and PPS should be high priority devices when developing new sites, but that no matter what combination of modelled SuDS are installed a reduction in runoff in comparison to conventional drainage can be achieved. A SuDS decision support tool was developed to assist design in MicroDrainage® by reducing the time spent determining the number of SuDS required for a site. The tool uses outputs from MicroDrainage® to rapidly predict the minimum and maximum peak flow for a site, in comparison to greenfield runoff, based on the site parameters of area, rainfall rate, infiltration, combined with the planned SuDS. The tool was underpinned by a model analysis for each site parameter and each SuDS device, which produced r2 values >0.8, with 70% above 0.9. This ensured a high level of confidence in the outputs, enabling a regression analysis between runoff and each site parameter and SuDS device at the 99% confidence level, with the outputs combined to create the tool. The final aspect of the research validated MicroDrainage® to analyse the accuracy of the software at predicting runoff. Using field data from Hamilton, Leicester, and laboratory data for PPS and filter drains, a comparison could be made with the output from MicroDrainage®. The field data created a Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.88, with filter drains and PPS providing an NSE of 0.98 and 0.94 respectively. This demonstrates the success with which MicroDrainage® predicts runoff and provides credibility to the outputs of the research. Furthermore, it offers SuDS specialists the confidence to use MicroDrainage® to predict runoff when using SuDS.

<p>Doktorska disertacija razrađuje metodologiju izrade modela upravljanja poplavama na velikim ravničarskim rekama korišćenjem preciznih digitalnih modela terena (DTM) i kombinacije 1D/2D hidrauličkih modela nestacionarnog tečenja. Za razradu modela korišćena je reka Dunav na teritoriji Srbije sa svojim pritokama. Dužina hidrauličkog modela je 715 km i postignuta tačnost modela, poređenjem izračunatih i izmerenih nivoa na devet vodomernih stanica, je ispod 10 cm. Dosadašnja strategija odbrane od poplava na velikim rekama, kao što je Dunav, bazirala se na &quot;pasivnim merama&quot; izgradnje nasipa i kejskih zidova. U radu je prikazana mogućnost primene nove strategije upravljanjem poplavnog talasa preko uređenih retenzija. Rezultati disertacije su omogućili i rekonstrukciju poplavnog talasa iz 1965. g.</p> / <p>The dissertation elaborates a methodology for flood management model on<br />large lowland rivers using precision digital terrain models (DTM) and<br />combined 1D/2D unsteady flow model. For the development of the model,<br />the river Danube on the territory of Serbia was used with its tributaries. The<br />length of the hydraulic model is 715 km and the achieved accuracy of the<br />model, by comparing the calculated and observed levels on 10 water<br />stations, is below 10 cm. Оur current defense against floods in big lowland<br />rivers is relied on passive defence with building and overhanging existing<br />levees and walls. In dissertation is shown the possibility of applying a new<br />strategies of flood management with retentions. The results of the<br />dissertation also enabled the reconstruction of the 1965. flood wave.</p>

The concept of resilience is increasingly applied to policy-making. However, despite its widespread use, resilience remains poorly defined, open to multiple interpretations, and challenging to translate into practical policy instruments. Three particularly problematic aspects of resilience concern its rigid conceptualisation of adaptation and learning, its de-politicised interpretation of participatory decision-making, and the ill-defined role and relevance of social vulnerability indicators. My research analyses these three aspects within the context of flood risk management in the UK, which is uniquely suited to studying the practicability of a cross-disciplinary concept like resilience, because it connects issues of natural resource management, social planning, and disaster management. First, I analyse two case studies of experimental pilot projects in natural flood management. Through studying project reports, and interviewing stakeholders involved in project implementation, I determine whether the theorised learning-by-doing method in resilience is reflected in experiences from real experimental projects. Secondly, I use one of these case studies to map out the political structure of local participatory bodies in flood management, and also conduct a small survey of local community groups. The purpose of this second study is to determine if collaborative methods can indeed lead to a knowledge-driven policy process as envisioned in resilience literature. Lastly, I use statistical analysis to compare a traditional flood management model and a socio-economic model. The aim of the statistical modelling is to determine whether socio-economic factors are indeed useful for informing flooding policy, and whether they offer new insights not already being used in modern flood management. I find that resilience gives insufficient consideration to the importance of political constraints and economic trade-offs in policy-making, and that evidence for the usefulness of socio-economic factors is inconclusive. Future work could focus on further refining the statistical modelling to pinpoint empirically verifiable indicators of resilience.

Research has shown that unless global greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 45% by 2030 the global warming could rise with 1,5 °C and increase the risk of floods. This is due to an intensification of extreme weather events and rising sea levels. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the flood preparedness in Swedish municipalities to get a better understanding how flood management was performed in practice and what obstacles municipalities may face. In addition to this, the study also aimed to see if preparedness differed between municipalities based on geographical location, flood risk classification or population. The study was conducted as a questionnaire that was sent out to all 290 municipalities in Sweden. The result indicated that a majority (89%) of the municipalities that participated (142) took floods into account in their risk and vulnerability analysis. Actions against floods were mainly focused on preventive and technical methods as well as increased cooperation. This study could not prove any differences in the flood preparedness based on geographical location, flood risk classification or population. Factors that posed limitations in municipalities abilities to effectively manage floods were lack of resources, restrictions in allocation of responsibilities or property rights. Areas of improvement that were noticed were that actions against floods could focus more on the municipalities ability to recover and learn from a flood event, as well as improvements in bridging the gap between the private and public sector to obtain a more cohesive preparedness capacity.

Yes / This paper reviews and discusses the recent studies of natural flood management (NFM) and its associated microbial risks in the UK and suggests set of numerical modelling approaches for their respective investigation. This study details the importance of precise numerical representation of the NFM to flood inundations and microbial risks caused by NFM measures. Possible future numerical advancements of the numerical modelling for the NFM and microbial activities are also discussed here.

To adapt to climate change which results in increasing flood frequency and intensity, the European Community has proposed Flood Directive 2007/60/EC. It requires member states to conduct risk assessments of all river basins and coastal areas and to establish Flood Risk Management Plans focused on prevention, protection and preparedness by 2015. Sustainable Flood Retention Basins (SFRB) that impound water are a new concept that arose in 2006. They can have a pre-defined or potential role in flood defense and were supposed to facilitate the implementation of the Flood Directive. Early and preliminary studies of SFRB were derived from case studies in Southern Baden, Germany. In Scotland, there are a relatively high number of SFRB which could contribute to flood management control. This research aimed to produce a guidance manual for the rapid survey of SFRB and to propose a series of frameworks for comprehensive analysis and assessment of SFRB. Precisely 372 SFRB in central Scotland and 202 SFRB in Southern Baden were investigated and characterized by 43 holistic variables. Based on this practical experience, a detailed guidance manual was created, guiding users to conduct a SFRB survey in a standardized and straightforward way. To explore the hidden data structure of data arising from the SFRB survey, various widely used machine learning algorithms and geo-statistical techniques were applied. For instance, cluster analysis showed intrinsic groupings of SFRB data, assisting with SFRB categorization. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to reduce the dimensions of SFRB data from the original 43 to 23, simplifying the SFRB system. Self-organizing Maps (SOM) visualized the relationships among variables and predicted certain variables as well as the types of SFRB by using the highly related variables. Three feature-selection techniques (Information Gain, Mutual Information and Relief) and four benchmark classifiers (Support Vector Machine, K-Nearest Neighbours, C4.5 Decision Tree and Naive Bayes) were used to select and verify the optimal subset of variables, respectively. Findings indicated that only nine important variables were required to accurately classify SFRB. Three popular multi-label classifiers (Multi-Label Support Vector Machine (MLSVM), Multi-Label K-Nearest Neighbour (MLKNN) and Back- Propagation for Multi-Label Learning (BP-MLL)) were applied to classify SFRB with multiple types. Experiments demonstrated that the classification framework achieved promising results and outperformed traditional single-label classifiers. Ordinary Kriging was used to estimate the spatial properties of the flood-related variables across the research area, while Disjunctive kriging was used to assess the probability of these individual variables exceeding specific management thresholds. The results provided decision makers with an effective tool for spatial planning of flood risk management. To assess dam failure hazards and risks of SFRB, a rapid screening tool was proposed based on expert judgement. It demonstrated that the levels of Dam Failure Hazard and Dam Failure Risk varied for different SFRB types and in different regions of central Scotland. In all, this thesis provided a guidance manual for rapid survey of SFRB and presented various effective, efficient and comprehensive frameworks for SFRB analysis and assessment, helping to promote the understanding and management of SFRB and thus to contribute to Flood Risk Management Plans in the context of the Flood Directive.

Flooding is the most devastating natural hazard in Pakistan and the recent flooding has demonstrated its severeness. Floods are common all over the country, though the province of Sindh experience the most damages. River Indus flows on a ridge here and once the surplus water during flood events leave the main channel does not return back. Therefore it is very important to adapt to this disaster. This study aims at identifying ways to address the problem of floods in upper Sindh for which Sukkur district was chosen. Questionnaire survey and interviews were conducted in three talukas of the district in the aftermath of recent floods (2010, 2011 and 2012) to provide a baseline study for Sustainable Flood Disaster Management Plan for the upper Sindh region. Recommendations were put to reduce the flood losses for the future floods.