Flood control has been practiced since ancient times with methods such as reforestation,

and the construction of levees, dams, reservoirs and channels diverting floodwater, called
floodways.

Levees were used by the ancient Chinese to raise the banks of the Yellow River. It was
hypothesised that because the river was restricted its channel would deepen to contain the
flow. In practice, however, the alluvial soil that used to be deposited over the whole
flood plain instead built up on the river bottom, causing the riverbed to rise. Over time
the level of the river rose as much as 21m above the surrounding plain, and in 1887 the
flooded river broke through the levees killing over a million people: one of the worst
recorded floods ever. The Middle Ages saw the construction of levees on the Rhine,
Danube and Po rivers, but these have since been reinforced with reforestation measures
and reservoirs. Today, the Mississippi river is confined to a narrow channel by levees in
order to give it a navigational depth, however the maintaining of this depth is a very
expensive process as the channel needs to be cleared frequently. On a large river, such as
the Mississippi, levees are often not sufficient protection against flooding and so other
methods such as dams and floodways are also used.

Dams were originally built for water storage, irrigation and power creation. Recently
dams have been built especially for flood control. Groups of dams built on the
headwaters of streams allow for the retention of heavy runoff which can then be released
during dry periods. The dams closest to the origins of the tributaries restrain the
floodwaters while the dams further downstream release their reserves and the flood
waters are then released into each succeeding dam and finally into the main river. In the
Netherlands a flood control project called the Delta Plan uses a huge storm-surge barrier
9km long that is lowered only when a sea flood is expected. This same principle has also
been applied on a smaller scale across the Thames River. Floodways are a method of
flood control that diverts flood waters so that a controlled area of land is flooded,
meaning that others are not.

In many places floods are caused by man's mismanagement of the land through
deforestation and intensive cultivation which has led to serious soil erosion and the
decreased ability of the soil to retain water. In these areas flood control is implemented
through reforestation and efficient methods of soil management such as contour
ploughing and crop rotation.

EXAMPLES

Yellow River:

Much of the problem stems from the high silt content of the river -- in some stretches as
much as 60% by weight. Millions of tons of yellow mud choke the channel, causing the
river to overflow and change course. In its lower reaches, the river bed has actually
become higher than the level of the surrounding countryside. Water is held in by dikes of
ever increasing height, some reaching 30 feet and more.
Attempts at controlling the Yellow River were begun as early as the third century B.C.
An engineer named Yu came up with the idea of dredging the river to encourage the
water to flow in its proper channel. Yu was made Emperor of China for his contribution,
but managing the river's silt would continue to be an ongoing challenge.

Over the years, the Chinese have tried to control the Yellow River by building higher
levees, digging channels and building dams. Dams have tended to be the most helpful in
controlling floods, but the river's thick silt has clogged many of them. Currently, the
Chinese are constructing a massive new dam called the Xiaolangdi Multipurpose Dam
Project. Boasting 10 intake towers, nine flood and sediment tunnels, six power tunnels
and an underground powerhouse, the structure may finally mitigate "China's Sorrow."

Nile :

This narrow strip along the Nile, together with the delta at the river's northern mouth, is
the only farm land Egypt has. Though it totals only three percent of the county's land, it
has provided ample food for thousands of years. But recently, a population boom has
forced Egyptians to increase their agricultural output.

In 1970, they completed the Aswan High Dam, which stretches across the Nile 600 miles
south of Cairo. The dam has effectively stopped the river's annual floods by trapping its
waters in a reservoir that is slowly released during the dry season.

Now farmers along the Nile plant crops year round. In fact, the area has become one of
the most intensely cultivated pieces of land in the world. Because the Aswan Dam traps
98% of the river's rich sediments and prevents them from flowing downstream, farmers
along the Nile must now use large amounts of artificial fertilizer. Another negative side-
effect of the dam is that the Nile delta is no longer being built up by the river sediments.
As a result, this important agricultural area is now struggling with erosion and
dangerously high levels of soil salinity.

Mississippi :

After a disastrous flood in 1927, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was charged with
task of taming the mighty Mississippi. In building the longest system of levees in the
world, the Corps successfully minimized flooding and improved the river's navigability.
This dramatic achievement spurred millions of Americans to move onto the floodplain,
where the soil was fertile and the property was cheap. As a result, much of the river's
bordering wetlands have been lost to agriculture and construction.

Today, the Mississippi is outfitted with 29 locks and dams, hundreds of runoff canals,
and miles and miles of levees. Most years, the system works remarkably well, but the
flood of 1993 washed away the illusion of complete control. Fully 80% of private
earthen levees in the river basin failed. Most federal levees held, saving lives and land --
but sent torrents of water towards less protected field and towns…………………..
Methods of control

In many countries , rivers prone to floods are often carefully managed. Defences such as
levees, bunds, reservoirs, and weirs are used to prevent rivers from bursting their banks.
When these defences fail, emergency measures such as sandbags or portable inflatable
tubes are used. Coastal flooding has been addressed in Europe and the Americas with
coastal defences, such as sea walls, beach nourishment, and barrier islands.

A dike is another method of flood protection. A dike lowers the risk of having floods
compared to other methods.[citation needed] It can help prevent damage; however it is
better to combine dikes with other flood control methods to reduce the risk of a collapsed
dike.

Tide gates are used in conjunction with dikes and culverts. They can be placed at the
mouth of streams or small rivers, where an estuary begins or where tributary streams, or
drainage ditches connect to sloughs. Tide gates close during incoming tides to prevent
tidal waters from moving upland, and open during outgoing tides to allow waters to drain
out via the culvert and into the estuary side of the dike. The opening and closing of the
gates is driven by a difference in water level on either side of the gate.

A weir, also known as a lowhead dam, is most often used to create millponds, but on the
Humber River in Toronto, a weir was built near Raymore Drive to prevent a recurrence
of the flooding caused by Hurricane Hazel in 1954, which destroyed nearly two fifths of
the street. Venice has a similar arrangement, although it is already unable to cope with
very high tides. The defenses of both London and Venice will be rendered inadequate if
sea levels continue to rise.

The largest and most elaborate flood defenses can be found in the Netherlands, where
they are referred to as Delta Works with the Oosterschelde dam as its crowning
achievement. These works were built in response to the North Sea flood of 1953, in the
southwestern part of the Netherlands. The Dutch had already built one of the world's
largest dams in the north of the country: the Afsluitdijk (closing occurred in 1932).

Flood blocking the road in Jerusalem

Currently the Saint Petersburg Flood Prevention Facility Complex is to be finished by

2008, in Russia, to protect Saint Petersburg from storm surges. It also has a main traffic
function, as it completes a ring road around Saint Petersburg. Eleven dams extend for
25.4 kilometres and stand eight metres above water level.

Americas

Another elaborate system of floodway defenses can be found in the Canadian province of
Manitoba. The Red River flows northward from the United States, passing through the
city of Winnipeg (where it meets the Assiniboine River) and into Lake Winnipeg. As is
the case with all north-flowing rivers in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere,
snowmelt in southern sections may cause river levels to rise before northern sections
have had a chance to completely thaw. This can lead to devastating flooding, as occurred
in Winnipeg during the spring of 1950. To protect the city from future floods, the
Manitoba government undertook the construction of a massive system of diversions,
dikes, and floodways (including the Red River Floodway and the Portage Diversion). The
system kept Winnipeg safe during the 1997 flood which devastated many communities
upriver from Winnipeg, including Grand Forks, North Dakota and Ste. Agathe, Manitoba.

In the U.S., the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, 35% of which sits below sea level, is
protected by hundreds of miles of levees and flood gates. This system failed
catastrophically, with numerous breaks, during Hurricane Katrina in the city proper and
in eastern sections of the Metro Area, resulting in the inundation of approximately 50%
of the Metropolitan area, ranging from a few inches to twenty feet in coastal
communities.

In an act of successful flood prevention, the Federal Government of the United States
offered to buy out flood-prone properties in the United States in order to prevent repeated
disasters after the 1993 flood across the Midwest. Several communities accepted and the
government, in partnership with the state, bought 25,000 properties which they converted
into wetlands. These wetlands act as a sponge in storms and in 1995, when the floods
returned, the government did not have to expend resources in those areas.

Asia

In China, flood diversion areas are rural areas that are deliberately flooded in
emergencies in order to protect cities.

The consequences of deforestation and changing land use on the risk and severity are
prone to discussion. In assessing the impacts of Himalayan deforestation on the Ganges-
Brahmaputra Lowlands, it was found that forests would not have prevented or
significantly reduced flooding in the case of an extreme weather event. However, more
general or overview studies agree on the negative impacts deforestation has on flood
safety - and the positive effects of wise land use and reforestation.

PUMPS

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.

A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into five major
groups: direct lift, displacement, velocity, buoyancy and gravity pumps. Their names
describe the method for moving a fluid.