Sustainable development and flood risk management
Andrew Binns
Abstract
The concept of sustainability as it relates to water resources is of paramount concern to the health and prosperity of society. Sustainable management of water resources not only encapsulates ensuring sufficient water (quantity and quality) for humans and ecosystems, but must also focus on resilient and appropriate flood risk management. Recently, the topic of sustainable management of water resources related to flooding and stormwater management is gaining more widespread attention in the literature (Lapointe et al., 2022). While not directly belonging to any specific one of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) from the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Desa, 2016), the topic of flood risk management spans several of the SDGs related to water management, resilient infrastructure, climate change, sustainable cities and communities, and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. The effects of a changing climate, urbanization, and other land-use changes are predominant concerns for those working to predict floods and protect society from the adverse economic, social, and environmental effects of flooding. In response to many recent climate and flooding-related disasters, more proactive approaches to address flooding and other extreme weather disasters are urgently needed (Owen, 2022). Practitioners and researchers must work to develop innovative solutions to increase resiliency of the built environment to better adapt to today's increased risk of flooding. Recent extreme flooding events, such as the November 2021 floods in the Pacific Northwest region of North America have illuminated the need to include climate change in all levels of infrastructure planning and decision-making and to pursue fundamental changes to increase resiliency of infrastructure to flooding and other extreme weather events (Northcott, 2021). With the expectation that there will be a dramatic escalation in the number of people affected by flooding events worldwide in the coming years (McGrath, 2021), the pursuit of sustainable flood risk management practices with respect to governance, approaches and infrastructure, and a more inclusive and robust social and public component, is of utmost importance. Flood prediction capabilities are hindered by an incomplete understanding of flood events having multiple causes, driving factors and uncertainties related to watershed characteristics and variability in climatic conditions (Shah et al., 2018). Sustainable management of flood risk is reliant upon the development of knowledge of the risk and likelihood of flood events to inform successful and resilient flood risk management approaches and support the development of appropriate and effective policy and decision-making. It is important to ensure that we are able to characterize the nature and driving forces responsible for flooding events. For example, papers in this issue highlight advances in knowledge on the role of groundwater rebound in urban environments for groundwater-induced flooding of homes (Allocca et al., 2022), prediction capabilities for the location of slope failures to more accurately assess the impact of debris flow initiation on flood damage to downstream areas (Yamanoi et al., 2022), and alteration of flood frequency statistics due to extreme events for affected and near-affected locations (Regier et al., 2022). It is critical for governing and regulation bodies to address the intensifying risk of flooding resulting from the increase in flood vulnerable areas due to climate change and urbanization (Pérez-Morales et al., 2018) and for flood risk management to be incorporated directly into the urban planning process (Van Herk et al., 2011). Flood risk management approaches and infrastructure are diverse in nature to mitigate damages due to complex flood mechanisms. We are seeing an increasing motivation for nature-based solutions and integration of flood risk management infrastructure with the natural environment to balance ecological and hydrologic objectives. Such measures, termed sustainable urban drainage systems, blue–green infrastructure, and natural flood management approaches, are being studied and implemented worldwide to increase knowledge of their performance and remove barriers to implementation. For example, this includes examination of the effect of future socioeconomic changes and changes in climate on the performance of nature-based solutions (Hellmers et al., 2018), and examination of biophysical and sociopolitical uncertainties to demonstrate hydrological performance of nature-based solutions to lead to increased confidence amongst the public and stakeholders (Thorne et al., 2018). For these approaches to be successful, collaboration is needed amongst the diverse stakeholders and organizations in order to remove uncertainties with natural flood risk management approaches and develop new skill sets required by these approaches (Waylen et al., 2018). In addition to nature-based solutions, sustainable flood risk management includes the development of increased capabilities of existing approaches and novel methodologies to lead to greater knowledge of flood processes and optimization of flood risk management infrastructure. Papers in this issue explore flood risk management approaches and technologies towards the development of a framework to determine optimal levee infrastructure and floodwall design heights to minimize cost and economic flood losses (Johnson et al., 2022), the application of satellite remote sensing technology from National Aeronautics and Space Administration to produce better predictions of snow water equivalency for more accurate spring flood forecasting capabilities (Lim et al., 2022), and the incorporation of taxi GPS data to more accurately identify flood-affected roads and create high quality flood maps (Kong et al., 2022). Finally, the social dimension of flood risk management requires essential consideration to ensure sustainable flood risk management approaches and provide equal opportunity for public and stakeholder involvement throughout the process. Sustainable flood risk management relies on extensive engagement from the community and all stakeholders in order to incorporate diverse flood risk perceptions into the decision-making process (Almoradie et al., 2020). Incorporation of nonstructural approaches, such as education programs, serve to increase flood preparedness and reduce the vulnerability of a community to flooding (Lumbroso et al., 2008). Important social and economic perspectives of flooding are explored in this issue with the examination of the effect of flood risk and local flood awareness on residential properties and real estimate prices (Miller and Pinter, 2022), the application of Q methodology to develop a greater understanding of public perception on the natural behavior of beaver communities and associated flood management benefits (Auster et al., 2022), and the development of a greater understanding of the risk, vulnerability and resilience of cultural heritage to flood events (Arrighi et al., 2022). The role of flood risk management is an essential component of sustainable water management. Community engagement related to flood risk planning, awareness and resilience, in addition to efforts to adapt to climate change and extreme flooding events is essential for sustainable flood risk management strategies (Nye et al., 2011). There exists important and unique opportunities to combine social, economic, ecological, and hydrological aspects of flood risk management to generate sustainable solutions that provide greater resilience and reduced vulnerability to flooding, now and into the future.