Francisco Nunes Correia

Multicriteria Evaluation of Flood Control Measures: The Case of Ribeira do Livramento

This paper describes the multicriteria process used to evaluate flood control options for the catchment of Livramento creek in the peninsula of Setúbal, in Portugal. In the structuring phase, the environmental, social, and technical dimensions were identified. The MACBETH approach - Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique - was then used to construct a quantitative evaluation model based on qualitative value judgments formulated by a group of experts from different technical and scientific fields. The model enabled the overall benefit associated with each option to be appraised, and extensive sensitivity analyses to be performed.

Flood Hazard Assessment and Management: Interface with the Public

The understanding of how people evaluate and respond to natural hazards in an urban area, and how this knowledge can be integrated in the planning and management process, are becoming very important elements of a comprehensive and participatory approach to flood hazard management. Such an approach demands a clear comprehension of the processes of the risks perception, causal attribution, possible solutions for the problem and patterns of behaviour developed during hazard situations. The willingness of the public to participate in flood management, and the attitudes to previous initiatives also need to be addressed. The provision of structural flood defences can have a major impact on the environment and there has been an expression of concern by many members of the public for the degradation of river corridors. In this context, it is becoming a commonly accepted practice by central or local governments to submit flood management plans to public discussion. Appropriate techniques for interfacing with the public are necessary to support this upsurge of public involvement. This paper presents results from research on public perception of floods, flood management and participatory initiatives in Setúbal, Portugal. An extensive interview programme was undertaken with residents and shopkeepers – with and without flood experience, professionals responsible for dealing with flood control problems and local authorities responsible for decision-making on flood management. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations for flood hazard management policy making and processes.

Coupling GIS with Hydrologic and Hydraulic Flood Modelling

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been recognised as a powerful means to integrate and analyse data from various sources in the context of comprehensive floodplain management. As part of this comprehensive approach to floodplain management, it is very important to be able to predict the consequences of different scenarios in terms of flooded areas and associated risk. Hydrologic and hydraulic modelling plays a crucial role and there is much to gain in incorporating these modelling capabilities in GIS. This is still a rather complex task and research is being done on the full integration of these models. Interfacing between these models and GIS may be a very efficient way of overcoming the difficulties and getting very good results in terms of engineering practice. This paper presents results based on the use of Intergraph GIS coupled with Idrisi GIS. Using these two systems substantially increased the flexibility of using GIS as a tool for flood studies. A lumped (XSRAIN) and a distributed (OMEGA) hydrologic models were used to simulate flood hydrographs. The well known HEC-2 Hydraulic model was used to compute flooded areas. These models were applied in the Livramento catchment with very good results. The computation of flooded areas for different flood scenarios, and its representation in GIS, can be used in the assessment of affected property and associated damages. This is a very useful GIS-based approach to floodplain management.

Floodplain Management in Urban Developing Areas. Part II. GIS-Based Flood Analysis and Urban Growth Modelling

In Part I of this article the very dynamic nature of floodplain management was discussed and the need for modelling the urban growth processes and formulating scenarios of urban development was emphasised. In this second part, the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for addressing those problems is presented. GIS have been recognised as a powerful means to integrate and analyse data from various sources in the context of comprehensive floodplain management. Adequate information and prediction capability is vital to evaluate alternative scenarios for flood mitigation policies and to improve decision making processes associated with flood management. A framework for the comprehensive evaluation of flood hazard management policies is also addressed in this article. This comprehensive approach to flood problems is more than an attitude or a philosophical starting point. It makes use of specific technological tools conceived to be used by different actors, some of them being nonexperts in flood analysis. These tools, based on GIS, are very appropriate for a participatory approach to flood policy formulation and floodplain management because they help communicating with the public in a scientifically correct and yet rather simple manner.

Water Resources in the Mediterranean Region

Abstract Mediterranean environments raise very specific problems for water resources management. Asymmetries of water availability and needs in annual and inter-annual terms and a peculiar relationship among water, soil and environment are some of these problems. In these environments, an integrated approach for water resources management is required. In this paper, a brief review of water needs and water availability in the Mediterranean countries is presented and the most relevant management issues raised by water scarcity are briefly discussed. Data on freshwater resources and on the distribution of different sectoral water uses in 19 countries of the Mediterranean region is presented and discussed. The close relationship between water resources management and land-use management is emphasized as a key issue for the integrated management of water in the region. The consequences of water shortages and the increase of water and land stressed situations may be aggravated in the future by climatic change. ...

Floodplain Management in Urban Developing Areas. Part I. Urban Growth Scenarios and Land-Use Controls

Some of the most critical flood problems occur in urban areas where values at risk are higher and damages tend to be heavier. Fast urban developing regions raise very specific problems because of the unsteady situation of these regions in terms of catchment land-use and urban encroachment. A realistic approach to flood management in these situations requires the consideration of urban growth scenarios and the simulation of the corresponding flood conditions. Coastal towns are frequently located in floodplains and are subject to flood hazard. This is the case for many coastal areas in Southern Europe that are still developing fast due to migration of the population to these areas. In such cases, flood management cannot be dissociated from land-use management, and non-structural measures for flood control can play a crucial role. It is important to make an ex-post evaluation of these types of measures in areas where they have been adopted. These issues are addressed in two Portuguese catchments, representative of urban growth and related to flood problems in Portugal and other Southern European regions. The Laje catchment is used for the ex-post evaluation of nonstructural measures, and the Livramento catchment is used for the modelling of urban growth scenarios. Quantitative results and policy recommendations are presented based on these two case-studies. Floodplain management is better done with GIS, especially if it is linked to hydrologic and hydraulic modelling capabilities. The use of GIS for conducting these studies is presented in Part II of this article.

Engineering Risk in Regional Drought Studies

Drought problems must be analyzed and solved at a regional level. Drought studies must focus not only on the hydrological characterization of the phenomena but also formulate the results in terms of engineering risk. In this paper concepts and methods to characterize droughts as regional processes are presented. The concepts of risk, reliability, resiliency and vulnerability are applied to characterize regional droughts and provide an engineering framework to deal with drought problems. A Portuguese river basin (rio Ave) is used to illustrate the concepts and techniques presented in the paper. A multivariate stochastic model is used to generate a synthetic series of monthly precipitation at six distinct regions defined in the river basin. Thirty-three years of monthly data are used to calibrate the parameters of this model. The generated series is used to perform the study of regional droughts from an engineering risk point of view.

Reliability in Regional Drought Studies

Droughts are essentially regional events and must be analyzed in explicit areal terms. Droughts are also long lasting events and this fact must be taken into consideration. Drought consequences can be devastating but never occur in short periods of time, as with other major natural disasters, namely floods, earthquakes and cyclones. Therefore, an engineering approach of drought problems must carefully model the areal and persistent nature of the phenomenon.

Polis—the Portuguese programme on urban environment. A contribution to the discussion on European Urban Policy

In recent years the urban question in the European Union has been a matter of deep focus and intensive debate, contributing to the European Community environmental, spatial and sustainability policies approach, however not entirely reflected in the current version of the 6th European Environmental Action Programme. The POLIS programme, initiated in Portugal at the time of the last Portuguese Presidency of the European Union (January–June 2000), illustrates the Portuguese urban environmental policy approach in that period, in response to contemporary trends and priorities regarding the improvement of urban life and governance. This article describes the POLIS programme, its current status and how it meets current challenges. The expetience acquired so far with the POLIS programme may be useful in the broader context of the discussion of an European urban policy.

Transboundary Issues in Water Resources

This chapter provides a general description of transboundary issues related to international watercourses, with a focus on situations involving EU members. The legal and institutional frameworks are briefly described and the historic evolution and current situation reviewed for the Rhine, the Danube, and the main Portuguese-Spanish rivers. There is an established tradition in Europe of bilateral and multilateral agreements and conventions on international water problems. The rapid evolution of environmental management concepts at the international level will have a clear impact on the approach taken by the international community with respect to international rivers. Sustainable development, shared responsibility, hydrodiplomacy, subsidiarity, epistemic communities, and public involvement are some of the key words. This chapter argues that global agreements dealing with all aspects of water resources management should be put under a common general framework, and that the levels of planning, management, and operation should be explicitly addressed in the specific agreements. This is essential to achieve an adequate balance and integration between the social, environmental, technical, legal and institutional dimensions of the existing problems.