Trends in flood risk management in deltas around the world

Are we going ‘soft’?

Authors

Anna Wesselink UNESCO-IHEJeroen Warner Wageningen UniversityMd Abu Syed Bangladesh Centre for Advanced StudiesFaith Chan University of NottinghamDung Duc Tran Wageningen UniversityHamidul Huq University of Liberal Arts Fredrik Huthoff HKV consultantsNgan Le Thuy Wageningen UniversityNicholas Pinter University of California DavisMartijn Van Staveren Wageningen UniversityPhilippus Wester International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) | Kathmandu, Nepal and Wageningen UniversityArjen Zegwaard VU-University | Amsterdam and Wageningen University

Keywords:

Flood risk management, Deltas, International comparison, Rhine, Meuse, Mekong, Pearl River Ganges, Brahmaputra, Zambezi, Limpopo, Mississippi

Abstract

Flood-risk management (FRM) is shaped by context: a society’s cultural background; physical
possibilities and constraints; and the historical development of that society’s economy,
political system, education, etc. These provide different drivers for change, in interaction with more
global developments. We compare historical and current FRM in six delta areas and their contexts:
Rhine/Meuse/Scheldt (The Netherlands), Pearl River (China), Mekong (Vietnam), Ganges/
Brahmaputra/Meghna (Bangladesh) Zambezi/Limpopo (Mozambique), and Mississippi (USA).
We show that in many countries the emphasis is shifting from ‘hard’ engineering, such as dikes,
towards non-structural ‘soft’ measures, such as planning restrictions or early warning systems,
while the ‘hard’ responses are softened in some by a ‘building with nature’ approach. However,
this is by no means a universal development. One consistent feature of the application of ‘hard’
FRM technology to deltas is that it pushes them towards a technological ‘lock-in’ in which fewer
and fewer ‘soft’ FRM alternatives are feasible due to increased flood risks. By contrast, ‘soft’
FRM is typically flexible, allowing a range of future options, including future hard elements if
needed and appropriate. These experiences should lead to serious reflection on whether ‘hard’
FRM should be recommended when ‘soft’ FRM options are still open.

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Published

2015-01-01

How to Cite

Wesselink, A. ., Warner, J. ., Syed, M. A. ., Chan, F. ., Tran, D. D. ., Huq, H. ., … Zegwaard, A. . (2015). Trends in flood risk management in deltas around the world: Are we going ‘soft’?. International Journal of Water Governance, 3(4), 25–46. Retrieved from https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/ijwg/article/view/5858

Issue

Section

Research Article