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A Lens in Focus on Cascading Impacts and Risk for Sustainable Flood and Water Resources Management

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability in Geographic Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2023) | Viewed by 10326

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Adrian Almoradie

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Guest Editor

Department of Geography, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Interests: water resources and flood risk management; participatory approaches; multi-criteria decision methods; hydrology–hydrometry and 1D/2D hydrodynamics (pluvial and fluvial flooding); hydrologic and flood modelling; spatial data infrastructure and time series standards; hydroinformatics

Prof. Dr. Daniel Bachmann

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Guest Editor

Department of Water, Environment, Construction and Safety, University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal, 39114 Magdeburg, Germany
Interests: flood risk analysis; hydrologic and hydrodynamic modelling; damage analysis; critical infrastructure; cascading disaster; reliability analysis of flood mitigation structures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research on flood risk (FRM) and water resources management (WRM) have come a long way in past decades. From inter- and/or trans-disciplinary approaches, decision-makers have various options to address the different issues on these topics, from the investigation, analysis, and planning, to the identification and implementation of sustainable solutions. The rapid expansion of urban areas, now with more inter-connectivity and dependency on their infrastructure, gives us a glimpse into the need to re-think our approaches to FRM and WRM. In-line with this, what is of interest is the investigation of the cascading impact on the system (society and infrastructure) caused by disasters, and climate and land-use change and management, to name a few.

In the context of FRM, examples are the cascading impact of floods on the critical infrastructures (CI), e.g., energy or water supply. CI’s are lifelines of society; their functionality can be partially or completely lost because of natural hazards such as flooding. The cascading failure can lead to trans-sectoral damage, and this can lead to negative consequences for the economy and population in the flooded area (direct damages) and beyond (indirect damages). In WRM, climate and land-use change can potentially have a cascading impact on the availability and use of water resources. This could potentially disrupt or alter, for example, water allocation, which may have a causal effect on biodiversity, livelihoods, and health, to mention a few.

This Special Issue aims to highlight innovative research on cascading impact of FRM and WRM for a more sustainable solution in an ever-changing urban environment. The research scope includes, but is not limited to, the cascading impacts on the risk, critical infrastructure, society, and the human–water system. Contributors to this Special Issue are invited to submit articles that carry out inter- and/or trans-disciplinary approaches in their research.

Dr. Adrian Almoradie
Prof. Dr. Daniel Bachmann
Guest Editors

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Keywords

cascading disaster
cascading failure
critical infrastructure
indirect damages
risk

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1937 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transboundary Collaborative Modeling: Consensual Identification and Ranking of Flood Adaptation Measures—A Case Study in the Mono River Basin, Benin, and Togo

by Adrian Delos Santos Almoradie, Nina Rholan Houngue, Kossi Komi, Julien Adounkpe and Mariele Evers

Sustainability 2023, 15(15), 11728; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511728 - 29 Jul 2023

Viewed by 970

Abstract

The field of environmental management, specifically flood risk management (FRM), emphasizes participatory decision-making to address diverse issues and conflicting interests among stakeholders. This approach recognizes the complexity of decisions and their long-term impact on sustainability. Collaborative knowledge production is crucial for understanding the system, generating scenarios, and establishing consensus on mitigation and adaptation measures. Transboundary FRM requires an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach, employing suitable tools and methods for assessment and decision-making. In the context of the CLIMAFRI project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), we evaluated the practicality of a participatory Collaborative Modeling framework in the transboundary Lower Mono River (LMR) basin, shared by Togo and Benin. This framework enables holistic understanding, stakeholder engagement, and the identification of appropriate adaptation-mitigation measures based on predefined evaluation criteria and a Multi-Criteria Decision Method. Our study customized and evaluated the framework considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which restricted face-to-face interactions. The study’s results indicate that in both countries, FRM is characterized as being more proactive rather than preventive, meaning the actions taken mainly address a broader range of potential issues and opportunities rather than targeting specific risks to minimize their impact. Moreover, it is crucial to enhance preventive measures and further improve the flood assessment capacity. The information obtained from scenarios involving the Adjarala Dam, land-use, and climate change under RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios for the years 2030, 2050, and 2100 is valuable for decision-making regarding the development and prioritization of adaptation measures. The ranking of the seven measures shows that capacity building is the most preferred, followed by dykes, early warning systems, regulation of land use, insurance, and retention zones. The group ranking of Togo and Benin highlights differences in their perceptions and interests, where Togo leans towards soft measures, while Benin prefers hard (physical) measures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Lens in Focus on Cascading Impacts and Risk for Sustainable Flood and Water Resources Management)

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31 pages, 12252 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Climate and Land-Use Change Impacts on Flood Hazards in the Mono River Catchment of Benin and Togo

by Nina Rholan Houngue, Adrian Delos Santos Almoradie, Sophie Thiam, Kossi Komi, Julien G. Adounkpè, Komi Begedou and Mariele Evers

Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5862; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075862 - 28 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1779

Abstract

Flooding is prominent in West Africa, and is expected to be exacerbated, due to global climate and land-use changes. This study assessed the impacts of future climate and land-use changes on flood hazards in the Mono river catchment area of Benin and Togo. Climate scenarios from the representative concentration pathways, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, and land-use projection at the horizon of 2070 were used for runoff simulation at the Athiémé outlet, and flood mapping in the lower Mono river basin. The planned Adjarala dam was also simulated, to evaluate its potential impact. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to investigate the impact of the projected changes on runoff, while the flood-water extent was simulated using the two-dimensional TELEMAC-2D model. TELEMAC-2D was validated with satellite observation and in a participatory way with local stakeholders. SWAT showed good performance during the calibration (KGE = 0.83) and validation (KGE = 0.68) steps. Results show an increase in the magnitude of flood extremes under future climate- and land-use-change scenarios. Events of 10-year return periods during 1987–2010 are expected to become 2-year return-period events under the climate- and land-use-change scenarios considered. The planned Adjarala dam showed potentials for extreme-peak and flood-extent reduction. However, flow-duration curves revealed that the discharge of the river during low-flow periods may also be reduced if the Adjarala dam is built. Adaptation measures as well as sustainable land-use and dam-management options should be identified, to alleviate the impacts of the projected changes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Lens in Focus on Cascading Impacts and Risk for Sustainable Flood and Water Resources Management)

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22 pages, 8135 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integrating Critical Infrastructure Networks into Flood Risk Management

by Roman Schotten and Daniel Bachmann

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5475; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065475 - 20 Mar 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1768

Abstract

Critical infrastructure (CI) networks are essential for the survival and functionality of society and the economy. Disruptions to CI services and the cascading effects of these disruptions are not currently included in flood risk management (FRM). The work presented in this study integrates CI into every step of FRM, including flood risk analysis, risk mitigation and risk communication. A CI network modelling technique enables the flood consequences for CI to be quantified as part of the flood risk analysis. The CI consequences derived from this analysis include spatial overviews and the temporal succession of CI disruptions. The number of affected CI end-users and the duration of the disruption are arranged in a risk matrix and in a decision-making matrix. Thus, the total flood risk is extended with CI consequences. By integrating CI and CI network characteristics into the flood risk assessment and the mitigation steps, a wider range of measures for action can be considered. Additionally, the continuous participation of CI operators is introduced as beneficial for every step of the FRM. A case study in Accra, Ghana proves the benefits of CI integration for all FRM steps. During participatory CI stakeholder engagements for this study six CI sectors were identified for the assembly of the CI network. The backbone of the analysis is a multisectoral, layered CI network model with 433 point elements, 1216 connector elements and 486 polygon elements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Lens in Focus on Cascading Impacts and Risk for Sustainable Flood and Water Resources Management)

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24 pages, 6482 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Flood Risk Assessment to Enable Improved Decision-Making for Climate Change Adaptation Strategies by Central and Local Governments

by Insang Yu and Huicheul Jung

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14335; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114335 - 02 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1592

Abstract

This study assessed the flood risk in the Republic of Korea, considering representative concentration pathway (RCP) climate change scenarios, after applying the concept of “risk” as proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. For the hazard assessment, hazard indicators were constructed utilizing design rainfall standards, which represented the local flood protection capability, as a flood threshold. We constructed high-resolution spatial images from data of buildings, roads, agriculture areas, and the population that have suffered significant flood damage in the Republic of Korea. We also calculated flood exposure levels by analyzing the scales of the targets in low-lying areas. Environmental and anthropogenic conditions that can directly increase or decrease river flooding and urban flooding were set as indicators and utilized as proxy variables. As a result of the risk assessment, we found 43 risk areas in the historical period, accounting for 19% of the total administrative districts, 42 in the projected period under RCP 4.5 (18%), and 51 in the projected period under RCP 8.5 (22%). This study’s results can be utilized by the central government to determine flood risk priority areas in various administrative districts and by the local government to select priority areas to install flood reduction facilities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Lens in Focus on Cascading Impacts and Risk for Sustainable Flood and Water Resources Management)

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20 pages, 2335 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Recovering from Financial Implications of Flood Impacts—The Role of Risk Transfer in the West African Context

by Simon Wagner, Sophie Thiam, Nadège I. P. Dossoumou, Michael Hagenlocher, Maxime Souvignet and Jakob Rhyner

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8433; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148433 - 10 Jul 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1686

Abstract

In many West African river basins, households regularly experience floods and the associated impacts. In the absence of widely accessible formal risk transfer mechanisms (e.g., insurance), households often have to cope with financial impacts. Only a few studies have explored the financial effects of floods on agriculture-dependent households in the region and the role formal and informal risk transfer plays in their mitigation. This study addresses this gap, explores flood impacts with financial implications for households, and researches the existing strategies to mitigate them. Moreover, it aims to better understand how different measures influence the recovery process. The study draws on primary data from a household survey (n = 744) in the Lower Mono River basin, combined with stakeholder workshops and semi-structured interviews, and applies a generalized linear model to the survey data. The results reveal four flood impact types with financial implications: agricultural, material, health, and trade. Moreover, a shortened recovery time is significantly associated with assistance from savings groups and cooperatives—groups originally not formed to help during floods. In light of the severe and frequent flood impacts, effective and publicly accepted adaptation measures are needed to enable favorable conditions for creating sustainable and accessible risk transfer mechanisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Lens in Focus on Cascading Impacts and Risk for Sustainable Flood and Water Resources Management)

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16 pages, 2446 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Geometric and Material Variability of the Probability of Landward Slope Failure for Homogeneous River Levees

by Niklas Schwiersch and Jürgen Stamm

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2833; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052833 - 28 Feb 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1360

Abstract

Holistic flood risk management (FRM) aims at minimizing the flood risk (FR) for an entire river basin. To this end, the probability of flooding and its consequences must also be taken into account in the planning of flood risk management measures. If the FR is to be limited by the flooding probability value (e.g., by changing the structural reliability), knowledge of the variability of the limit state is required. As an example, this study quantifies for the first time the variability of the probability of a landside slope failure on homogeneous river levees, using the Monte Carlo simulation. In the slip circle method developed by Krey that is used for this purpose, four geometric and six material input parameters are included as being uncertain, of which four emerge in the result as being relevant influencing variables of the failure probability. These analyses extend our understanding of landward slope failure by the variability of the limit state; the results allow a targeted adjustment of the local failure probability to limit the flood risk. In the future, the methodology presented is to be supplemented by the integration of parameter dependencies and, once in use, expanded to include structured cross-sections or additional failure mechanisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Lens in Focus on Cascading Impacts and Risk for Sustainable Flood and Water Resources Management)

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