Floodplain Management

Floodplain= the floor of a valley that gets flooded

when a river exceeds its bankfull discharge.
Floodplains tend to be much wider in a rivers lower
course where erosion has a greater effect. The
floodplain is created by sediments and materials
that flood to the side of the river.
Fundamentals:
The load that a river carries with it causes some of the erosion. When the load
is very angular it increases the erosion, which wears away the bad and banks
of the river.
The speed of the river combined with a high discharge (the volume of water
running through a river) is the most common situation that the water floods
the floodplains.
Another type of erosion causing the river beds and banks to wear away is the
gradient of the river. The steeper the river the more it will wear away.
Water that comes from urban areas and from farming areas has more acidity
that causes it to have a lower pH. This increases the rate of erosion and
causes floods to occur more often.
Human impacts that cause the
floods are deforestation, pollution,
and dams.
Surplus energy in a river makes the
river carry eroded materials.
1. Suspension
2. Solution
3. Traction
4. Saltation

Human Modifications:
Modifications made by humans to avoid floods:
Modification Causes and Effects
Storm water sewages Water sewages take the water out of the
endangered flooding areas and if they
contain filters, they filter the water and
make it less acidic.
Encroachment on the river
channel, i.e. bridges
It reduces the channels width, which
leads to higher water levels.
Water resource problems Sewages that are made underground,
bypass percolation abilities which lead to
less underground water resources.
Pollution control problems Storm water that runs off rooftops and
roads that contain heavy metals.
Flood control Urbanization increases the peak of mean
annual flood.
Building activity Clears vegetation which exposes soil and
increases overland flow and is replaced
with concrete soils that are impermeable.

How can we deal with rivers that flood?


We can make a channel wider and deeper in order to increase the cross
sectional area. Although this will decrease the amount of flooding in the area
that is dealt with, it will increase the velocity of the river and cause greater
flooding as the river continues.
We can create reservoirs or lakes that store excess water during periods of
flooding. This can be expensive.
We can allow the river to flood in areas of low value, in order to relieve areas
of high value.
We can create levees, which will increase the depth of a river and prevent
flooding until a certain point.
We can build dams; these create stores which can hold water during times of
increased precipitation. Dams however are expensive to build and can break
if precipitation exceeds the expected maximum.
The river can be dredged. Dredging is the removal of material from the bed
of a river which deepens the river; therefore the river can withhold greater
amounts of water. The disadvantage is that it may need to be done regularly,
due to deposition.
Rivers can be channelized; this means that the beds and banks are
concreted. Concreting the bed and bank of a river reduces friction and
increases friction, therefore decreasing bank erosion. This however is
expensive and will make it harder for life to grow and prosper.
The area surrounding the drainage basin can be reforested; this will increase
interception and transpiration. Although this idea is cheap and eco-friendly, it
is not possible to cover the whole drainage basin in trees and in
winter/autumn most trees lose their leaves, reducing interception.
We can build interception channels which divert the rivers discharge around
inhabited areas, decreasing the discharge of the main channel. They are
expensive, may flood themselves in times of heavy precipitation and may
restrict future urban growth.
We can protect the banks and bed of a river from erosion by planting
vegetation. This is natural, promotes wildlife and is cheap compared to other
methods. Vegetation however can be removed during flooding.
We can use electronically controlled sewers to control the flow of
precipitation to stop increased discharge into rivers. This can be very effective
at controlling small flood; however they require a redesign of sewers, cannot
handle large floods, and have possibility of failure.


Case Study:
In North Wales the village Llanrwst regularly floods as the village is situated on a
floodplain in a valley. They have managed the floods in several ways:
They have built a 3 meter dam
Rocks have been placed in the river channel
Concrete lines up the sides of the river within the village, so that the water
can flow faster out of the endangered area
Levees and banks have been built
Some farmland is allowed to flood
Temporary defenses, like sandbags
The floods are created by the large amounts of precipitation that are focused on
that valley. In particular seasons the flood endangers more than in others. In North
Wales winter and fall have high precipitation rates.