The evolution of climate change guidance for fluvial flood risk management in England

Floods are one of the biggest natural hazards to society, and there is increasing concern about the potential impacts of climate change on flood occurrence and magnitude. Furthermore, flood risk is likely to increase in the future not just through increased flood occurrence, but also through socio-economic changes, such as increasing population. The extent to which adaptation measures can offset this increased risk will depend on the level of future climate change, but there exists an urgent need for information on the potential impacts of climate change on floods, so that these can be accounted for by flood management authorities and local planners aiming to reduce flood risk. Agencies across the UK have been pro-active in providing such guidance for many years and in refining it as the science of climate change and hydrological impacts has developed. The history of this guidance for fluvial flood risk in England is presented and discussed here, including the recent adoption of a regional risk-based approach. Such an approach could be developed and applied to flood risk management in other countries, and to other sectors affected by climate change.

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Downpour! – Flood risk communication through interactive immersive street games

Research for All ◽

10.18546/rfa.03.1.03 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 18-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jana Wendler ◽

Emma L. Shuttleworth

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Flood Risk ◽

Public Discourse ◽

Environmental Science ◽

Flood Management ◽

Flood Risk Management ◽

Storm Events ◽

Interactive Games ◽

Active Involvement ◽

The Uk

In this paper, we discuss the potential role of immersive interactive games in public engagement with environmental science, in this case flood risk management. Recent high magnitude storm events in the UK have fuelled great public interest in flooding. However, there remains an apparent mismatch between the scientific voice of flooding research and the wider public discourse, which we argue games may be able to address. Downpour! is a street game that casts players as flood risk advisers in a fictional flooding scenario. Players work in teams to respond to an immediate crisis and make longer-term decisions about mitigation through a series of encounters with actors, films, puzzles and treasure hunts. The game was created by a street game designer in collaboration with film-makers, environmental scientists and public institutions, with performances at the Manchester Science Festival and the Festival of Social Science 2016. Based on observations and responses from these events, we discuss how the game fostered understanding of, and engagement with, decision-making in flood risk management. Games offer people the agency to experiment with decisions in a safe space. As a result, we found that players begin to independently interrogate both scientific and political dimensions of flood management. The immersive nature of a street game further creates an emotional connection with the issues, which has the potential for triggering active involvement in flood-related efforts. We conclude by reflecting on the process behind the game creation, commenting on the strengths and difficulties of innovative collaborations between environmental scientists and creative practitioners.

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Providing future UK heavy precipitation guidance for water management stakeholders using a convection-permitting climate model ensemble and a spatial extreme statistical model

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-726 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Steven Chan ◽

Elizabeth Kendon ◽

Benjamin Youngman ◽

Giorgia Fosser ◽

Christopher Short ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Risk Management ◽

Statistical Model ◽

Flood Risk ◽

Temporal Variability ◽

Climate Model ◽

Flood Risk Management ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Return Levels ◽

The Uk

<p>The UK Climate Projections (UKCP) provide the latest information on future climate change expected in the UK. The latest UKCP products include the first UK national climate scenarios at a resolution consistent with weather forecasting. In particular, they include projections from a 12-member 2.2km convection permitting climate model (CPM) ensemble, called UKCP Local (2.2km), released by the UK Met Office in September 2019. A key added value of CPMs is their improved representation of precipitation extremes, and as such the UKCP Local ensemble is particularly useful for water management stakeholders (water utilities and flood risk management professionals) for future adaptation in waste water and flood risk management. A key metric of interest is future increases (&#8220;uplifts&#8221;) of precipitation return levels. However, diagnosing precipitation return levels for such high-resolution model simulations is difficult due to their spatial-temporal variability and correlation. Here, we adapt an Exeter University-developed spatial extreme statistical model which incorporates the spatial-temporal variability and correlation of precipitation extreme, and apply it to daily and hourly precipitation data from the UKCP Local Ensemble for both the present-day and future RCP8.5 simulations. This allows us to provide robust estimates of uplifts for high return levels across all of the UK for months and seasons of interest.</p>

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River science and flood risk management policy in England

Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment ◽

10.1177/03091333211036384 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 030913332110363

Author(s):

Malcolm Newson ◽

John Lewin ◽

Paul Raven

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Risk Management ◽

Adaptive Management ◽

Flood Risk ◽

Natural Capital ◽

Flood Management ◽

Flood Risk Management ◽

Management Policy ◽

Catchment Scale ◽

Risk Management Policy

We review the role of science in shaping river flood risk management policy in England, highlighting the relatively recent influence of fluvial geomorphology, river ecology, climate change and ecosystem services in evidence-based decision-making. These disciplines, together with an historical perspective, catchment-scale delivery, integrated land and water management planning, and adaptive management are crucial in managing future flood risk. A central tenet of previous land drainage policy was a professional (and public) mindset about flood ‘prevention’ solutions for river flooding. As a direct consequence, more than 8,500 km of rivers were ‘improved’ by mechanical dredging during the 1930s to 1980s; habitats were destroyed, but flooding continued. A more enlightened, long-term approach has since evolved in response to environmental imperatives and lessons learnt from several major floods during the last two ‘flood-rich’ decades. River science, local knowledge and land management incentives allow more natural processes to be restored in river catchments. The natural capital and ecosystem service benefits of river systems are now better understood and quantified, whereas the importance of sediment transport is fully recognised, with sources and sinks treated more holistically than in the past. Evaluating the outcomes of innovative runoff and river management techniques from both physical and socioeconomic perspectives will determine the success of a catchment-based approach. We highlight some of the uncertainties, nuances and assumptions associated with recent initiatives such as Natural Flood Management, Citizen Science and Flood Action Groups. Further integration between policy, strategic planning and local delivery is needed to anticipate and respond to climate and catchment land use changes. River science will play a crucial part in identifying the most effective way of improving flood management and in a way that helps to deliver the recovery of nature. It will inform adaptive management to cope with climate change.

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Like a Fish Out of Water: The Relationship between Planning and Flood Risk Management in the UK

Planning Practice and Research ◽

10.1080/0269745052000343244 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 415-425 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Joe Howe ◽

Iain White

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Flood Risk ◽

Flood Risk Management ◽

The Uk ◽

The Relationship

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The Cork City flood of November 2009: Lessons for flood risk management and climate change adaptation at the urban scale

Irish Geography ◽

10.1080/00750778.2011.615283 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 44 (1) ◽

pp. 61-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

James M. Jeffers

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Risk Management ◽

Climate Change Adaptation ◽

Flood Risk ◽

Flood Risk Management

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Integrating Strategic Environmental Assessment to Climate Change Adaption in the Chao Phraya River Basin: Case Study Flood Management Plans in Ayutthaya

Sustainability in Environment ◽

10.22158/se.v6n2p55 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. p55

Author(s):

Wilawan Boonsri Prathaithep ◽

Vilas Nitivattananon

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

River Basin ◽

Environmental Assessment ◽

Flood Risk ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Flood Management ◽

Integrated System ◽

Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽

Human Environment ◽

Impacts Of Climate Change

Traditionally, flood management has concentrated on providing protection against floods using technical measures, but there is currently an international shift towards a more integrated system of flood risk management, whereby flood risk is defined as the probability of flooding multiplied by the potential consequences. Climate change is a great challenge to sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Thailand. The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the challenges associated with the current situation and projected impacts of climate change on the disasters and the human environment in Thailand, to review and explore the potential of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), and to propose SEA in making informed decisions relevant to the implementation of the new adaptation framework in a flood management plan. Thus, current measures on how Thailand is responding to the recent impacts of climate change in river basin planning are presented. It is imperative that an appropriate environmental assessment tool, such as SEA be employed in making rational decisions regarding adaptation frameworks. SEA offers a structured and proactive environmental tool for integrating of climate change adaption into formulating Policies, Plans, and Programs (PPPs) among relevant sectors.

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