Flood Risk Management: A Strategic Approach

Abstract

Over recent decades the concept of flood risk management has been cultivated across the globe. Implementation however remains stubbornly difficult to achieve. In part this reflects the perception that a risk management paradigm is more complex than a more traditional standard-based approach as it involves "whole systems" and "whole life" thinking; yet this is its main strength and a prerequisite for more integrated and informed decision making. This book is the result of a collaborative effort between the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the General Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Planning and Design (GIWP), Ministry of Water Resources, People's Republic of China, UNESCO, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and a number of leading international experts from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and the United States. It was originally conceived to review and disseminate modern approaches to water management in challenging environments, providing new insights into good strategic planning and risk management of water resources. This book provides a focus on strategic flood risk management and is one in series of six books, which together consider three fundamental water resources management issues: river basin planning (Pegram et al., 2013), basin water allocation (Speed et al., 2013), and strategic flood risk management.