Land use, water management and future flood risk

Abstract

a b s t r a c tHuman activities have profoundly changed the land on which we live. In particular, land use and land management change affect the hydrology that determines flood hazard, water resources (for human and environmental needs) and the transport and dilution of pollutants. It is increasingly recognised that the management of land and water are inextricably linked (e.g. Defra, 2004). "Historical context, state of the science and current management issues" section of this paper addresses the science underlying those linkages, for both rural and urban areas. In "Historical context, state of the science and current management issues" section we discuss future drivers for change and their management implications. Detailed analyses are available for flood risk, from the Foresight Future Flooding project (Evans et al., 2004a,b) and other recent studies, and so we use flooding as an exemplar, with a more limited treatment of water resource and water quality aspects. Finally in "Science needs and developments" section we discuss science needs and likely progress. This paper does not address the important topic of water demand except for some reference to the Environment Agency's Water Resources Strategy for England and Wales (Environment Agency, 2009).

Effects of Land Use and Management on SoilHydraulic Properties

“…However, it has been noted that the decision regarding the most appropriate soil management system for local conditions is based heavily on the prevailing conditions [65], such as soil type, rainfall amount, perennial weed type, or the main type of crop [66][67][68]. As some studies suggest, changes in soil physical properties and, consequently, soil hydraulic properties can be unfavorably impacted by the degree of disturbance associated with the applied land use or management [48,69].…”

Distributed System of Dams for Flood Protection of Urban Land to Ensure Sustainable Development

“…This approach can solve problems with population growth, urbanisation and climate change which represent significant pressures on sustainable urban development, requiring flood events managers to consider a wider array of management options that account for economic, social and environmental factors using modeling in GIS environment [25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. …”

The Urban Food Hubs Solution: Building Capacity in Urban Communities

“…Urban agriculture can therefore mitigate flooding risks and improve urban resiliency. The term resilience refers to the ability of communities to cope with disruptive events like natural disasters and to recover more quickly from the negative impacts of a disaster (Meerow, Newell, & Stults, 2016;Prior & Roth, 2013;Wheater & Evans, 2009). …”