Twenty-first century flood risk management

• 1.1.

  Introduction

• 1.2.

  Policy and legislative background

• 1.3.

  Flood risk concepts and terminology

• 1.4.

  Flood risk management techniques and methods

• 1.5.

  Managing residual risks

• 1.6.

  Conclusions

• References

Climate change is likely to result in increasing demand for infrastructure to reduce flood risk. Given sufficient resources, the vast majority of flooding problems can be controlled. However, there is a limit to the rate at which resources, and in particular fossil fuels, can be used sustainably. Flood defence infrastructure can also have wider negative consequences for society and the environment. European policy and legislation is, therefore, increasingly focused on the promotion of river basin scale planning, appropriate environmental and sustainability assessment, and optimised use of the wide array of techniques available to manage flood risk. Flood defence infrastructure is just one important means of managing flood risk by reducing the likelihood of floods occurring. Measures that reduce the severity of the consequences of flooding include spatial planning, insurance, awareness raising, flood forecasting and warning, civil contingency planning, the establishment of community flood plans, and the implementation of physical interventions to improve the resilience of the built environment in flood zones. Avoiding the creation of new flood risks and planning for the consequences, as well as the causes, of flooding will allow the long-term benefits of flood risk management expenditure to be optimised.