Abstract
This chapter describes common governance challenges and good practices in the phase before a flood event. In this phase flood risk can be reduced by (1) keeping people away from flood prone areas; (2) decreasing exposure to floods through defence infrastructure; and (3) mitigating risks by decreasing the magnitude of a flood by water storage or flood proofing.
The first common challenge identified is how to defend against flooding. Good practices are the Dutch advanced system of structural defences that guarantee safety in a high risk area, and the Swedish system of temporary flood defences to deal with lower and more dispersed flood risks. A related challenge is how to provide sufficient space for storing peak discharges. Good examples are the Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems in England and the Dutch Room for the River project.
Another common challenge is including flood risk in spatial planning and construction in order to reduce the consequences of flooding. In Belgium, Water Assessments and Signal Areas have been introduced as tools to integrate water into decision making on urban developments. In Sweden local governments can withhold building permits based on flood risk arguments. In France, specific coordination mechanisms between spatial planning and risk management are in place.
Securing sufficient money for investments in physical infrastructure is also challenging. The Dutch fund most measures through public taxes, whereas in England good examples of mixed funding through partnerships exist. In order to prioritise measures, England and Belgium provide good examples of cost-benefit analysis. A final challenge is to raise awareness and stimulate action by citizens. In England publicly available flood maps play an important role and attempts are made to create bottom-up action. In Belgium, property owners are obliged to inform interested buyers or tenants of a property of associated flood risks.
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Notes
- 1.
The National Interest Operation status is given by the State to projects with scopes of national interest.
- 2.
Nestlé, work begins on river Dove Flood Scheme: http://www.nestle.co.uk/media/pressreleases/work-begins-on-river-dove-flood-scheme
- 3.
Bottom-up climate adaptation strategies towards a sustainable Europe: http://base-adaptation.eu/
- 4.
More information (in Dutch), Overstromingsgevoelig vastgoed: http://www.integraalwaterbeleid.be/nl/beleidsinstrumenten/informatieplicht/informatieplicht-overstromingsgevoelig-vastgoed#richtlijnen voor publicatie.
- 5.
More information (in Dutch), Built and live safely in flood prone areas: http://www.integraalwaterbeleid.be/nl/publicaties/brochure-overstromingsveilig-bouwen-en-wonen
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Raadgever, G.T., Booister, N., Steenstra, M.K. (2018). Before a Flood Event. In: Raadgever, T., Hegger, D. (eds) Flood Risk Management Strategies and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67699-9_11
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