The concepts of flood risk management have been widely embraced over the past decade. In many instances this conceptual acceptance has resulted in changes to decision-making practice, highlighting risk management as potentially more complex, but more efficient and effective in delivering multiple goals, than a traditional engineering standards-based approach. In particular, the emergence of strategic flood risk management is enabling a longer term, catchment-wide, perspective to emerge. The decision process based on an explicit trade-off of the whole (life-cycle) risks reduced, opportunities promoted and the resources required. In doing so, the advantages of adopting a portfolio of integrated multi-sector responses (including structural and non-structural measures as well as policy instruments), has moved centre stage.
The paper Strategic Flood Risk Management summarises the findings of a collaborative effort between WWF, the General Institute of Water Resources & Hydropower Planning (GIWP), Ministry of Water Resources, People’s Republic of China and a number of leading international experts from the UK, South Africa, Australia and the US. The effort was originally conceived to review and disseminate modern approaches to water management in challenging environments, and provide new insights into strategic planning and risk management of water resources.
This paper focuses on basin water allocation planning and is one in a series of three covering (i) strategic basin allocation planning (ii) strategic basin planning, and (iii) strategic flood risk management.