Water-related Disaster Risk Research Articles

Preface: The 5th International Conference of Water Resources Development and Environmental Protection (ICWRDEP 2023)

The 5th International Conference on Water Resources Development and Environmental Protection 2023 (ICWRDEP 2023) was successfully conducted using a hybrid approach on September 23rd, 2023, at Universitas Brawijaya in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. ICWRDEP has maintained its biennial schedule, an ongoing tradition since the middle of 2015.The Water Resources Engineering Department - Faculty of Engineering - Universitas Brawijaya organized the ICWRDEP 2023 in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Works and Housings of Indonesia, Miyazaki University in Japan, and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India. The conference topics are River Engineering and Management, Coastal Engineering and Management, Environmental Engineering and Sanitation, Water-Related Disaster Risk Reduction, Water Resources Engineering and Management, and Water-related to Civil, Architectural Engineering. Through the presentation of papers and discussion, the conference provides a platform for researchers, engineers, and academicians to meet and share ideas, achievements, and experiences. This international event is essential in promoting and encouraging practitioners to apply the new concept of water resource development and techniques and enhancing knowledge and understanding with the required specifications of analysis, design, and construction of any engineering concept.We want to convey our deepest gratitude to the Rector of Universitas Brawijaya, the Dean of Engineering Faculty, Keynote Speakers Arie Setiadi Moerwanto, Ph.D from Ministry of Public Works & Housing, Republic of Indonesia, Prof. Keisuke Murakami from Miyazaki University, Japan, Prof. Deepak Khare from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India, Prof. Donny Harisuseno from Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia, International Advisory Board members, organizing committee, and all participants.The Proceedings of the IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science feature original research papers stemming from the presentations at ICWRDEP 2023. Experts in relevant fields reviewed all manuscripts submitted to the Proceedings ICWRDEP 2023. We appreciate all of the reviewer’s time and thoughtful comments. Their reviews, we believe, aided in improving the scientific quality of the papers presented.We are looking forward to the 6th ICWRDEP in 2025. We expect more experts and scholars worldwide to attend this international conference.Malang, September 23rd, 2023Universitas BrawijayaIndonesiaList of Committees, Documentation are available in the pdf.

Building Quality-Oriented Societies in Asia Through Effective Water-Related Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

Asia-Pacific countries are facing growing risks from water-related disasters that are being exacerbated by climate change, urbanization, population growth, and development activities. Effective disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) are crucial for building quality-oriented societies. This study proposes approaches to DRR and CCA by examining cases and approaches from a special session at the 9th International Conference on Flood Management. This session was held to follow up on the Kumamoto Declaration adopted at the 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Kumamoto in April 2022, and demonstrated the determination of heads of states and governments to resolve water issues in the region. The recent disaster cases in Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Indonesia highlight the unprecedented scale of water-related disasters. These countries have developed integrated structural and non-structural measures as fundamental solutions, including planning supported by scientific evidence, institutional reforms, and capacity building. However, there is a need to prioritize and strengthen urban planning and land use regulations for effective DRR and CCA. The Kumamoto Declaration emphasized three critical approaches: science and technology, finance, and governance, while the session clarified the effectiveness of these approaches. Leveraging science and technology can help societies develop and implement effective strategies to mitigate climate risks and safeguard vulnerable populations and ecosystems. However, there is a significant investment gap for flood protection, estimated at USD 64 billion per year. Thus, financial arrangements must be established. Meanwhile, good governance is essential for collaboration between local bodies, national governments, and international assistance. Such governance can leverage green infrastructure as a key solution and promote disaster resilience that is both locally driven and nationally relevant.

Preface: The 4th International Conference of Water Resources Development and Environmental Protection (ICWRDEP 2021)

The 4th International Conference on Water Resources Development and Environmental Protection 2021 (ICWRDEP 2021) was successfully held in a virtual meeting room by Zoom on August 7th, 2021. This conference was initially scheduled to be held offline at Universitas Brawijaya in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. However, it was canceled due to COVID-19 and government travel restrictions, particularly for international participants. Since ICWRDEP has been declared a biannual event and has been ongoing since mid-2020, this event would not be postponed. Moreover, when the call for papers was published, academics and researchers were ecstatic.The ICWRDEP 2021 was organized by Water Resources Engineering Department - Faculty of Engineering - Universitas Brawijaya in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Works and Housings of Indonesia, Miyazaki University in Japan, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands. The conference topics are River Engineering and Management, Coastal Engineering and Management, Environmental Engineering & Sanitation, Water-Related Disaster Risk Reduction, and Water Resources Engineering and Management and Water-related to Civil, Architectural Engineering. Through the presentation of papers and discussion, the conference provides a platform for researchers, engineers, and academicians to meet and share ideas, achievements, and experiences. This international event is essential in promoting and encouraging practitioners to apply the new concept of water resource development and techniques and enhancing knowledge and understanding with the required specifications of analysis, design, and construction of any engineering concept.We would like to express the most profound appreciation to the Rector of Universitas Brawijaya, the Dean of Engineering Faculty, Keynote Speakers Prof. Eko Winar Irianto from the Ministry of Public Works and Housings Indonesia, Prof. Keisuke Murakami from Japan, and Prof. Dano Roelvink from the Netherlands, International Advisory Board members, organizing committee, and all participants.List Of Committees are available in this pdf.

Impact Assessment of Climate Change on the Near and the Far Future Streamflow in the Bocheongcheon Basin of Geumgang River, South Korea

Highly concentrated precipitation during the rainy season poses challenges to the South Korean water resources management in efficiently storing and redistributing water resources. Under the new climate regime, water resources management is likely to become more challenging with regards to water-related disaster risk and deterioration of water quality. To alleviate such issues by adjusting management plans, this study examined the impact of climate change on the streamflow in the Bocheongcheon basin of the Geumgang river. A globally accepted hydrologic model, the HEC-HMS model, was chosen for the simulation. By the calibration and the validation processes, the model performance was evaluated to range between “satisfactory” and “very good”. The calibrated model was then used to simulate the future streamflow over six decades from 2041 to 2100 under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The results indicated significant increase in the future streamflow of the study site in all months and seasons over the simulation period. Intensification of seasonal differences and fluctuations was projected under RCP 8.5, implying a challenge for water resources managers to secure stable sources of clean water and to prevent water-related disasters. The analysis of the simulation results was applied to suggest possible local adaptive water resources management policy.

Spatio-temporal dynamics of water-related disaster risk in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2000 to 2015

Due to climate change and intensive human activities, the frequency and severity of water-related disasters have increased and resulted in socio-economic and environmental damages. Assessment of water-related disaster risk is essential for risk mitigation and management for sustainable development. To investigate these issues, this study examined hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience to disaster in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) of China, where water-related disasters have had an adverse impact on economic development and water resource security. We developed a multiple index system for the concerned YREB 131 cities, applied a risk assessment model to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of the water-related disaster risk and identified the hotspots of risks in the YREB from 2000 to 2015 based on multisource observation data. The results showed that the average hazard, exposure, and vulnerability increased by 3.62%, 1.28%, and 2.07%, respectively, in the YREB during 2000–2015, revealing that water-related disaster risk presented an upward trend. The high-risk areas were mainly located in the middle and lower reaches of the YREB. The water-related disaster risk for the Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster and urban agglomeration of the Yangtze River Delta increased and had spatial agglomeration characteristics. In addition, cities’ resilience can contribute to 14%–25% decreases in water-related disaster risk in the YREB. Thus, policy makers should focus more attention on water-related disaster risk reduction and improve cities’ resilience, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the YREB.

PREFACE: The 3rd International Conference of Water Resources Development and Environmental Protection (ICWRDEP)

After the success of The 2nd International Conference of Water Resources Development and Environmental Protection 2017 (ICWRDEP 2017) two years ago, we came with the next conference which held every two years. The 3rd International Conference of Water Resources Development and Environmental Protection 2019 (The 3rd ICWRDEP) Water Resources Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Brawijaya was conducted on October 12-13, 2019. The Conference was organized by Water Resources Engineering Department - Faculty of Engineering - Universitas Brawijaya collaborated with Ministry of Public Works and Housings Indonesia, Disaster Prevention Research Center Kyoto University Japan, National Central University Taiwan, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Rajamangala University of Technology Thailand.The main topic of conference is Multi-Perspective on Water-Related Challenges. And the subtopics are River Engineering and Management, Coastal Engineering and Management, Environmental Engineering & Sanitation, Water-Related Disaster Risk Reduction, and Water Resources Engineering and Management. The conference provide platform for researchers, engineers and academician to meet and share ideas, achievement as well as experiences through the presentation of papers and discussion. These events are important to promote and encourage the application of new concept of water resources development and techniques to practitioners as well as enhancing the knowledge of environmental protection with the current requirements of analysis, design and construction of any engineering concept.List of committees, Photos are available in the pdf.

Development of water and energy Budget-based Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation model (WEB-RRI) and its verification in the Kalu and Mundeni River Basins, Sri Lanka

Distributed Hydrological Models (DHMs) with the capability of simulating catchment-scale water and energy budgets as well as rainfall-runoff-inundation processes are essential tools for Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) as well as Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction (WDRR) under changing climate. This research developed a new DHM, the Water and Energy Budget-based Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation (WEB-RRI) model, by integrating the RRI model’s diffusive wave flow equations into a land surface model (hydro-SiB2) to incorporate water and energy budget processes, land-vegetation-atmosphere interactions, soil moisture dynamics, and 2-D lateral water flows to improve interception, evapotranspiration (ET), soil moisture, runoff, and inundation processes. The performance of the new model was assessed using river discharge data, MODIS and GLEAM ET data, and ground as well as satellite inundation extents in the Kalu (wet) and Mundeni (dry) River basins in Sri Lanka. The model was well calibrated and validated (Nash > 0.9) and confirmed to be highly capable of reproducing the long-term (~20 years) observed river discharges (Nash > 0.89) and hydrological flow regime properties for both basins. Particularly, the simulated low flow just before the flood and the peak discharges during the flood, as well as their timings, coincided well with the observed discharges in both basins, which indicates that the model is capable of reproducing soil and vegetation water storages reasonably well, and therefore it can be used for real-time and forecasting applications with the re-starting capability. The model-simulated basin averaged ET fluxes and their trends agreed better with GLEAM (RMSE: ~0.7–0.95 mm/day, correlation: ~0.35–0.39) than with MODIS (RMSE: ~0.96–1.04 mm/day, correlation: ~0.14–0.25). The simulated inundation extents were also consistent with the ground- and MODIS-driven inundation extents. The future focus of this research will be on expanding the model applicability for basin-wide IWRM and WDRR, including flood- and drought-related risk assessments, by employing the model to operational applications (e.g., flood forecasting and seasonal flow prediction) and long-term applications (e.g., catchment responses to past and future climatology, water cycle variability, hydrological extremes, and land-use changes).

Detection of trends in hydrological extremes for Ethiopian watersheds, 1975–2010

This study investigates trends in streamflow variables for 57 gauging stations distributed across the Ethiopian highlands for the period 1975–2010. We used the Mann-Kendall’s test to detect trends and the Sen’s slope estimator to calculate trend magnitudes. The findings show that more than 70% out of 513 test cases have shown increasing signals, and 32% of the tests were globally field significant at 0.05 level. Increasing change in low-flow magnitudes and decreasing change in low-flow frequency that exceeded 80 percentile (Qmin80p) were more prevalent than the others. Global field significant increasing changes were observed for 40% out of 228 test cases for low-flow amounts, while Qmin80p has shown decreasing trend at 46 out of 57 stations, and 26 of these were statistically significant. The general tendency is towards upward change, but there were some stations that showed field significant decreasing trends for high-flow indicators. General trend signals (upward or downward) and stations with significant changes did not show any spatial pattern. There were even adjacent gauging stations within the same river basin or adjacent river basins that showed statistically significant opposite trends for some test cases. The complex spatial pattern of trend signals is partly attributable to the very complex topographic, climatic, and land cover variations in the country that are well documented in previous studies. Also, the observed trends are difficult to fully explain in terms of climate change or land cover conversion. Generally, the results of this study contradict with previous studies that reported no significant trends in streamflow variables over Ethiopia. The study has important implications for climate change adaptation planning, water-related disaster risk management, and water sector development activities in the country.

Global Water-Related Risk Indicators: Meta-Analysis of Indicator Requirements

Despite a long developmental history of water-related disaster risk indicators, there is still no consensus or reliable system for selecting objective data, no methodological system for choosing and verifying the relevancy of water-related disaster risk indicators, and no linking results back to root causes or addressing possible impacts on policies or actors to instigate change.Global policy documents such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2015–2013 [1] emphasize the urgent need for indicators capable of measuring risk reduction. However, developing and determining risk indicators faces many issues. Most disaster risk indices published do not yet include a basic overview of what data was used and how it was collected, let alone provide a systematic explanation of why each indicator was included, and why others were not. This consequently complicates linking the findings to their potential policy impacts. It also complicates the providing of clear-cut recommendations for improving resilience, which is a common intent of disaster risk indices.This study, which focuses on water-related hazards, aims to provide disaster managers with a set of criteria for evaluating existing datasets used in disaster risk indices, index construction methods, and the links back to policy impacts. So far, there has been no comprehensive overview of indicator requirements or scoring systems. Previous studies concerning indicator evaluating metrics [2] have fewer metrics and have not yet addressed the different tiers of requirements, namely objective indicator data quality, methodological/epistemological aspects of index composition, and, most importantly, policy and actors of change (impact requirements). Further testing of these metrics in local studies can lead to the greatly needed scientific justification for indicator selection and can enhance index robustness.The results aid in developing an evaluation system to address issues of data availability and the comparability of commonly used indicator sources, such as the World Bank. Once indicators can be scientifically linked to impacts through policy devices, national governments or other actors can become more likely to claim ownership of the data management of indicators. Future studies should expand this evaluation system to other natural hazards and focus on investigating the links between indicators and DRR in order to further validate indicator selection robustly.

Water and Disasters: Cases from the High Level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters

Water is life. But water is also a threat to life. During the past decade, the risks from water-related disasters are increasing and hamper sustainable development by causing political, social, and economic upheaval in many countries. Water-related disasters, such as floods, droughts, storm surges and tsunamis, account for 90% of all disasters in terms of number of people affected. The issue of “water and disasters” must be addressed if we hope to make sustainable development a reality. We must share our experiences and lessons learned, strengthen regional coordination and collaboration, and set common goals and targets in order to lay a foundation for weathering the water-related disasters to come, and make progress towards creating a better-prepared and more resilient society. All these elements should be translated into clear-cut messages and practical advice for decision makers to create effective policies and mechanisms that address water and disaster issues appropriately at all levels. The High Level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) was established to assist the international community, governments and stakeholders in mobilizing political will and resources. It will promote actions to raise awareness, ensure coordination and collaboration, establish common goals and targets, monitor progress, and take effective measures aimed at addressing the issues of water and disasters. During 2014, members of HELP solicited case studies on water and disasters. After review, these contributions comprise this special issue of Water Policy . The cases and the special issue were also done to provide input to discussion on this topic at the World Water Forum 7 in the Republic of South Korea. The special issue consists of 10 cases studies and concludes with a summary position paper of members of the HELP: ‘Water-Related Disaster Risk Reduction: Time for Preventive Action: Position paper of the High Level Experts and Leaders …

Water-related disaster risk reduction: time for preventive action! Position paper of the High Level Experts and Leaders Panel (HELP) on water and disasters

Climate change is exacerbating the extremes in hydro-meteorological events. Together with other global drivers under change – population growth, rapid urbanisation, increased asset values – this may result in increased frequencies and even higher impacts of water-related disasters. Further comprehensive actions are needed to reduce the vulnerability and to increase the resilience of exposed populations and assets.

Water-related disaster risk reduction (DRR) management in the United States: floods and storm surges

Water resources planning and management has evolved in the United States through several distinct stages over the past two centuries, transitioning from a concern for inland waterways transportation to single purpose flood control and finally to multiple purpose large reservoirs. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) was always considered to be one of the main goals of these strategies. Reviewing history, this paper describes a US federal system that presents major challenges to coordinating water resources development and DRR, at both the watershed and metropolitan area scales. The paper reviews the performance of existing flood protection systems of three recent disasters. Federal, state and local responses to these major events have been mixed, as regulatory and management agencies with different evaluation frameworks and decision rules attempt to coordinate their respective responses. The cases revealed new vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the US DRR responses and planning, while contrasting the relative successes of long-term, strategic DRR planning and investments in the case of the Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) system. The paper analyzes this history and recent cases primarily from the perspective of the US Army Corps of Engineers.

東京都市圏の水災害リスクと不動産への影響

東京都市圏の水災害リスクと不動産への影響

Integrated risk zoning of drought and waterlogging disasters based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation in Anhui Province, China

This study presents a methodology for risk analysis, assessment, combination, and regionalization of integrated drought and waterlogging disasters in Anhui Province, which is supported by geographical information systems (GIS) and technique of natural disaster risk assessment from the viewpoints of climatology, geography, disaster science, environmental science, and so on. Along with the global warming, the occurrences of water-related disasters become more frequent and serious. It is necessary to determine the mode of spatial distribution of water-related disaster risk. Based on the principle of natural disaster risk, natural conditions, and socioeconomic situation, drought and waterlogging disaster risk index, which combined hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and restorability, was developed by using combined weights, entropy, and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Drought and waterlogging disaster risk zoning map was made out by using GIS spatial analysis technique and gridding GIS technique. It was used for comparing the relative risk of economic and life losses in different grids of Anhui Province. It can also be used to compare the situation of different levels of drought and waterlogging disaster combination risk in a similar place. The result shows that the northwestern and central parts of Anhui Province possess higher risk, while the southwestern and northeastern parts possess lower risk. The information obtained from statistical offices and remote sensing data in relation to results compiled were statistically evaluated. The results obtained from this study are specifically intended to support local and national governmental agencies on water-related disaster management.

Prioritization of Water-Related Disaster Risk Reduction in Bangladesh

Prioritization of Water-Related Disaster Risk Reduction in Bangladesh

Governance, socio-economic and geophysical indices for determining water-related disaster risk

Governance, socio-economic and geophysical indicators are indispensable measures of risk for water-related disasters leading to a better disaster risk mitigation and management for sustainable development. Water-related disaster countermeasures are weak in non-OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, thus higher economic losses and younger fatalities are concentrated there; for example, the majority of fatalities in developing nations are 50 years old or less, in contrast to those in developed nations where the most are older than 60 years old; furthermore, economic losses of 2.8, 19.7 and 2.7% of GDP were incurred during Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, and Typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines, respectively. A transfer of scientific knowledge and technology from developed to developing countries is helpful in strengthening water-related disaster countermeasures to reduce economic losses and fatalities. Natural hazards correspond to geophysical features, thus the categorization of these features leads to an understanding of corresponding natural hazards which helps disaster mitigation and land-use and policy planning for future development. A combination of governance, socio-economic and geophysical water-related disaster indicators is therefore an indispensable development index.