The efficiency of asset management strategies to reduce urban flood risk

In this study, three asset management strategies were compared with respect to their efficiency to reduce flood risk. Data from call centres at two municipalities were used to quantify urban flood risks associated with three causes of urban flooding: gully pot blockage, sewer pipe blockage and sewer overloading. The efficiency of three flood reduction strategies was assessed based on their effect on the causes contributing to flood risk. The sensitivity of the results to uncertainty in the data source, citizens' calls, was analysed through incorporation of uncertainty ranges taken from customer complaint literature. Based on the available data it could be shown that increasing gully pot blockage is the most efficient action to reduce flood risk, given data uncertainty. If differences between cause incidences are large, as in the presented case study, call data are sufficient to decide how flood risk can be most efficiently reduced. According to the results of this analysis, enlargement of sewer pipes is not an efficient strategy to reduce flood risk, because flood risk associated with sewer overloading is small compared to other failure mechanisms.     

Estimation of uncertainty in long term combined sewer sediment behaviour predictions, a UK case study.

There are regulatory driven requirements for UK water companies to reduce the number of properties at risk of sewer flooding. One of the potential causes of sewer flooding is the presence of persistent sediment deposits in sewers. This is a common problem in many combined sewers. Although the regulation is risk based, there is a gap in current knowledge on how risk assessment is affected by the uncertainty in sewer solids behaviour prediction. This paper describes a UK case study exploring the possibility of estimating uncertainty in sewer sediment deposit level predictions, using Monte Carlo simulations combined with a response database.     

Urban and river flooding:Comparison of flood risk management approaches in the UK and China and an assessment of future knowledge needs

Increased urbanisation,economic growth,and long-term climate variability have made both the UK and China more susceptible to urban and river flooding,putting people and property at increased risk.This paper presents a review of the current flooding challenges that are affecting the UK and China and the actions that each country is undertaking to tackle these problems.Particular emphases in this paper are laid on(1) learning from previous flooding events in the UK and China,and(2) which management methodologies are commonly used to reduce flood risk.The paper concludes with a strategic research plan suggested by the authors,together with proposed ways to overcome identified knowledge gaps in flood management.Recommendations briefly comprise the engagement of all stakeholders to ensure a proactive approach to land use planning,early warning systems,and water-sensitive urban design or redesign through more effective policy,multi-level flood models,and data driven models of water quantity and quality.     

黄河宁夏段漫溃堤洪水耦合模型及风险评估

河道持续的高水位和长历时洪水增大了堤防漫溢及溃决的风险,溃堤洪水不确定性强,一旦溃堤,威胁巨大,因此开展溃漫堤洪水风险分析是防洪实时管理的必然要求。使用侧向链接构建了河道及保护区一维-二维耦合模型,综合考虑青铜峡水库的影响,更真实地模拟了黄河宁夏段下河沿至石嘴山河段100年一遇设计洪水下的溃漫堤洪水过程,同时基于GIS平台进行溃漫堤洪水灾情评估得到量化的洪灾损失指标,为经济建设者和洪水管理者制定合理的洪水预案提供参考。     

香港岛南区雨水管网改造总体规划概述

香港岛南区雨水管网整体规划设计是临海、临江城市雨水管网规划设计的典型实例。重点介绍了该工程如何使用水力模拟软件辅助设计的基本方法以及其它相关内容:确定潮汐水位对雨水管网排水能力的影响,划分集水分区防洪级别,利用HydroWorks和MIKE11建立、校核、调整雨水管网的水文水力模型(以下简称模型)以保证模拟结果的可靠性,根据现状模型的运行结果对管网进行现状评价和洪水风险评估,利用规划模型辅助管网改造设计和方案最优化。     

Uncertainty Estimation in Flood Inundation Mapping: An Application of Non‐parametric Bootstrapping

Disaster prevention planning is affected in a significant way by a lack of in‐depth understanding of the numerous uncertainties involved with flood delineation and related estimations. Currently, flood inundation extent is represented as a deterministic map without in‐depth consideration of the inherent uncertainties associated with variables such as precipitation, streamflow, topographic representation, modelling parameters and techniques, and geospatial operations. The motivation of this study is to estimate uncertainties in flood inundation mapping based on a non‐parametric bootstrapping method. The uncertainty is addressed through the application of non‐parametric bootstrap sampling to the hydrodynamic modelling software, HEC‐RAS, integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS). This approach was used to simulate different water levels and flow rates corresponding to different return periods from the available database. The study area was the Langat River Basin in Malaysia. The results revealed that the inundated land and infrastructure are subject to a flooding hazard of high‐frequency events and that the flood damage potential is increasing significantly for residential areas and valuable land‐use classes with higher return periods. The proposed methodology, as well as the study outcomes, of this paper could be beneficial to policymakers, water resources managers, insurance companies and other flood‐related stakeholders. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flood Risk Management in Flanders: Past Developments and Future Challenges

This paper presents the state of the art of flood risk management in Flanders, a low-lying region in the northern part of Belgium which is vulnerable to flooding. Possible flood hazard sources are not only the many rivers which pass through the Flemish inland, but also the North Sea, which is sensitive to the predicted sea level rise and which can affect large parts of the Flemish coastal area. Due to the expected increase in flood risks in the 21st century, the Flemish government has changed its flood management strategy from a flood control approach to a risk-based approach. Instead of focusing on protection against a certain water level, the objective now is to assure protection against the consequences of a flood, while considering its probability. In the first part, attention is given to the reasoning and functioning of the risk-based approach. Recent improvements to the approach are discussed, as well as the GIS-implementation of the entire model. The functioning of the approach is subsequently demonstrated in two case studies. The second part of the paper discusses future challenges for the flood risk management in Flanders. The driving force behind these challenges is the European Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks, which entered into force in 2007. The Flemish implementation of the directive is discussed and situated in the European landscape. Finally, attention is given to the communication of flood risks to the general public, since the “availability” of flood risk management plans is among the requirements of the EU Floods Directive.     

Urban stream overflow probability in a changing climate: Case study of the Seoul Uicheon Basin,Korea

Flooding from the overflow of rivers and streams can cause major disruption in urban areas that is likely to have significant effects on human activities and the environment. Such consequences could be exacerbated by enhanced levels of precipitation resulting from future climate change. Various options are available for responding to flooding; however, further studies are needed to improve the design flood criteria in order to cope with the uncertainties of a changing climate. This study investigated an improved methodology for the evaluation of the overflow probability of urban streams. This was achieved through the application of Monte Carlo simulations (MCSs) and climate change scenarios that incorporated an increased probability of overbank flooding. An estimation of the probability of future rainfall in the Uicheon Basin of Korea, using chaos disintegration with regional climate model (RCM) scenario data, indicated a projected increase of 4.4%–9.6%. The results for 100-year flooding under projected conditions of climate change, based on a hydrologic overflow inundation model, showed that flooded areas could increase by 58.1% compared with current levels, depending on the climate change scenarios. However, forecasts based on MCSs indicated that extreme rainfall could increase by 94.9%. Thus, an overflow analysis that reflects both extreme hydrologic events and more frequent flooding due to climate change could provide a more reliable means of forecasting extreme events, as well as helping to prevent natural disasters associated with unexpected extreme flooding. The results obtained in this study would provide useful data for stakeholders and decision makers to both enhance policy standards and formulate measures to reduce the risk of urban flooding within the context of a changing climate.     

"Triple-bottom-line" assessment of urban stormwater projects.

New guidelines have been developed and trialled in Australia to assist urban stormwater managers to assess options for projects that aim to improve urban waterway health. These guidelines help users to examine the financial, ecological and social dimensions of projects (i.e., the so-called "triple-bottom-line"). Features of the assessment process described in the guidelines include use of multi criteria analysis, input from technical experts as well as non-technical stakeholders, and provision of three alternative levels of assessment to suit stormwater managers with differing needs and resources. This paper firstly provides a background to the new guidelines and triple-bottom-line assessment. The assessment methodology promoted in the new guidelines is then briefly summarised. This methodology is compared and contrasted with European guidelines from the "SWARD" project that have been primarily developed for assessing the relative sustainability of options involving urban water supply and sewerage assets. Finally, the paper discusses how assessment methodologies that evaluate the financial, ecological and social dimensions of projects can, under some circumstances, be used to evaluate the relative progress of options for urban water management on a journey towards the widely pursued, but vaguely defined goal of "sustainable development".     

Storm water quality modelling,an ambitious objective?

As a consequence of the awareness of the pollution impact of storm sewer overflows, managers need tools to evaluate and control stormwaters according to water quality criteria. After an experience of 25 years in storm water quality modelling, very few models are widely and regularly used. According to managers this is due to their cost and their low level of accuracy.The generation and the transport of the pollution in urban systems during a storm event are very complex because they concern many media and many space and time scales. Nevertheless, a typology of the existing models shows that this complexity has been inscribed into the models. This tendency towards complexity makes sewer quality models difficult to put into operation and three main difficulties can be underlined: doubtful mathematical formulation of processes, uncertainties on input and calibration data, difficulties and cost of calibration.Further research is needed to improve the modelling approach and basic knowledge, and we think that a clear distinction should be made between management tools and research models.     

Risk Perceptions and Terror Management Theory: Assessing Public Responses to Urban Flooding in Toronto,Canada

Terror Management Theory (TMT) suggests that mortality salience (MS), or death reminders, should impact environmental behaviour and decision-making by increasing consumption and resource usage, shifting aesthetic preferences toward cultivated landscapes, and affecting adherence to environmental norms. We examined MS effects on residential flood risk perceptions in Toronto, Canada, following the major urban flood in July 2013. Survey responses were analyzed to assess risk perceptions across nine categories; analyses through the Wilcoxon-Mann–Whitney test show statistically insignificant differences between MS and control groups for all subcategories. Coupled with the TMT literature, the results indicate that existential anxiety is more likely to affect flood risk perceptions through worldview defense when the social dimension of flooding is made clear. Toronto residents’ societal beliefs about flooding play a major role in guiding flood management strategies. Our results provide scholarly and practical direction for flood risk communication strategies to promote the adoption of private flood-prevention measures, suggesting that anthropocentric framing of flooding issues will not induce negative environmental behaviour and may increase concern for flooding issues.     

滨海城市防洪防潮工程措施

沿海城市会遇到潮水和河洪碰头的情况,设计时应加以重视,充分考虑各种不利因素的组合。结合工程实例介绍了抬高城市用地高程;海堤防潮、山洪外排、内湖调蓄;设置排涝泵站及分洪渠道等几种防洪防潮工程措施。     

Methodologies to study the surface hydraulic behaviour of urban catchments during storm events

A good knowledge of the hydraulic behaviour of an urban catchment and its surface drainage system is an essential requirement to guarantee traffic and pedestrian safety. In many cases, inlets have been situated according to spatial density criteria. Indeed a more rational location of inlets on urban catchments must be defined according to an accurate analysis of the relationship between street flow and inlet hydraulic efficiency. Moreover we lack specific hazard criteria in terms of the maximum acceptable flow depths and velocities on the streets that do not cause problems to pedestrians. In this paper the results of two different experimental campaigns are presented. The first was carried out to evaluate inlet hydraulic efficiency; the second was carried out to address the pedestrian stability in urban flood conditions, whose aim was to propose new hazard criteria. On the basis of the experimental results, a methodology was developed to assess flood hazard in urban areas during storm events. If a refined topographic representation of urban areas is available, a two-dimensional numerical simulation of urban flooding can be performed using complete shallow water equations. According to this approach a numerical application for flood hazard assessment in a street of Barcelona is shown.     

柳州市近年水旱灾害分析

柳州市是一座沿江城市,市区大部分地面高程低于大洪水水位,历年来饱受洪水灾害.现已建设了城市防洪堤工程,可以抵挡50年一遇洪水,对城市防洪排涝起到了很大的作用.但是,近年来大自然水文环境的变化,使局部地区洪水重现期越来越短.而洪水过后,枯水期缺水又越来越严重.这不能不引起人们的关注.     

Rapid detection of sewer defects and blockages using acoustic-based instrumentation

Sewer flooding incidents in the UK are being increasingly associated with the presence of blockages. Blockages are difficult to deal with as although there are locations where they are more likely to occur, they do occur intermittently. In order to manage sewer blockage pro-actively sewer managers need to be able to identify the location of blockages promptly. Traditional closed-circuit television (CCTV) inspection technologies are slow and relatively expensive so are not well suited to the rapid inspection of a network. This is needed if managers are to be able to address sewer blockages proactively. This paper reports on the development of an acoustic-based sensor. The sensor was tested in a full scale sewer pipe in the laboratory and it was shown that it is able to find blockages and identify structural aspects of a sewer pipe such as a manhole and lateral connection. Analysis of the received signal will locate a blockage and also provide information on its character. The measurement is very rapid and objective and so inspections can be carried out at much faster rates than using existing CCTV technologies.     

Cross sectoral and scale-up impacts of greywater recycling technologies on catchment hydrological flows.

With the growth of urban areas and climate change, decisions need to be taken to improve water management. This paper reports an assessment of the impact of greywater recycling systems on catchment scale hydrological flows. A simulation model developed in InfoWorks CS (Wallingford Software Ltd) was used to evaluate how river flows, sewer flows, surface runoff and flooding events may be influenced when grey water recycling systems of different number and scale are implemented in a representative catchment. The simulations show the effectiveness of greywater recycling systems in reducing total wastewater volume and flood volume. However, no hydraulic impacts due to implementation of greywater was identified by the model.     

南方平原河网区城市内涝的全过程监测与特征分析

南方平原河网区中普遍存在由堤防、闸坝以及泵站形成的高度城镇化圩区,圩区内受降雨过程和泵站启闭影响的城市内涝特征和模拟方法仍有待探索。本文以常州市城市产汇流与内涝实验基地为对象进行了降雨、管道及河道水位流量等全过程长期监测,并通过布设水位计和视频监控设备进行城市内涝积水深度和范围自动监测。监测数据表明圩区内管网和河道流动性很差,管网长期处于淹没状态,监测期间管道水深有75%时间大于0.76 m;在检查井未发生溢流冒水现象时,仍然会发生内涝积水且主要集中在雨篦子周围道路低洼处,其深度和范围主要受到降雨过程、地形、雨篦子收水能力和泵站启闭的影响;开启泵站在增大管网排水能力的同时也在一定程度上削减了内涝积水范围。因此,根据降雨预报与内涝积水实时监测信息及时调控圩区水位可以有效缓解内涝积水情况,在模拟城市内涝时也不应忽略雨篦子收水能力和泵站启闭对内涝过程的影响;本研究可为构建城市内涝全过程在线监测平台提供参考,也能为城市内涝过程的概化模拟方法提供依据。     

Simulation of overflow thresholds in urban basins: Case study in Tuxtla Gutiérrez,Mexico

The space–time dynamics and the effect of urban growth on territory transformation were simulated with Iber 2D to analyze flooding events in the lower basin of the Sabinal River, Mexico. We classified the main coverages and land uses of the study area. Soil roughness and water infiltration in the soil were evaluated. Both values were used as input data in a simulation model with Iber 2D to analyze and compare the levels of water height and maximum flood level area with different precipitation values in two reference years, 1986 and 2014. Residential use land cover increased considerably while tree, pasture and agricultural use covers decreased. Consequently, in 2014, precipitation of similar magnitude led to higher values of direct runoff, increasing water levels and therefore the risk of overflowing. The water levels and moments of river overflow provided feedback for flood‐risk warning systems and tools to monitor basins lacking adequate infrastructure.     

Adaptation for river basins: connecting policy goals to the water resources system.

This paper focuses on a methodology called 'generic adaptation methodology for river basins' (AMR) that provides guidance to water managers seeking: (1) potential adaptation measures to climate change and climate variability, (2) measuring impacts, and (3) evaluating adaptations. The methodology uses basic elements addressed in existing adaptation research and is designed for a participatory setting involving various stakeholders. In AMR, the water resources system is seen as an economic asset that provides 'goods and services' for both humans and ecosystems. The innovative aspect of AMR is that it distinguishes impacts to water management objectives and impacts to the physical state of water resources in a river basin in a relatively simple iterative approach. Both impact types are quantified using indicators. The framework and results are demonstrated for a case study in the Walawe basin (Sri Lanka). It is explained that actually implementing adaptations in policy making can be difficult in trans-boundary river basins as each riparian country has its own policy objectives and hence ways of dealing with adaptation.     

考虑圩区分布的平原河网区暴雨洪涝分析模型建立

针对圩区众多的平原河网区域,基于已有的一、二维非恒定流水动力学理论建立的城市洪涝仿真模型,引入"小蓄水面"的概念,将圩区内外在水动力学模型中未被概化但对降雨的调蓄作用不可忽略的小河、塘坝、小湖泊等根据其实际空间分布统一概化为所在网格的小蓄水面,并考虑圩区堤防标准、抽排能力和调度运行规则对河网区域洪涝时空分布的影响,对模型中网格淹没水深、圩区排涝和闸泵调度的计算方法进行了改进。选择嘉兴市为案例区域建立了暴雨洪涝分析模型,利用模型对嘉兴市近年来典型场次暴雨进行模拟计算,与河道实测水位及洪涝分布调查结果对比表明,模型对区域的概化合理,能反映嘉兴市在受本地降雨和上游洪水影响、下游潮位顶托及复杂的工程调度规则综合作用下水流的运动特点和洪涝的分布特征,模拟结果可靠,模型可以为区域洪水风险图编制和防汛风险管理提供支持。