A new guidance document has been developed to support the design of well-balanced strategies for Integrated Flood Management. Floods are the most common natural disaster with the largest impacts on society. Official statistics show a gradual decrease in the number of fatalities thanks to better early warnings, but flood damage appears to be increasing because of economic growth, and lack of prevention measures and flood-sensitive land-use planning.
The Integrated Flood Management (IFM) approach aims to maximize the productivity and efficient use of floodplains and coastal zones, while minimizing the loss of life and impact on livelihoods and assets through protective measures. Absolute protection from flooding, however, is impossible. In planning for IFM, therefore, there is a need to decide what level of risk is acceptable, to decide how safe is safe enough.
The Associated Programme on Flood Management is 15-year-old joint Global Water Partnership and WMO project focusing on the implementation of integrated flood management in policy and practice. This includes a shift from the classical strategy of reactive disaster response to pro-active risk reduction. To support this shift, Deltares and…
