Floods and droughts

Fatma Balany, ST.,M.Eng.,M.Sc

Jurusan Teknik Sipil UHO

Definition

What is a drought ?
What is a flood ?

Drought
General definition of drought:
A drought occurs when the water supplies are
substantially below what is experienced for that
place and time
Drought is typically caused by lower than normal
rainfall for a representative period/area for a period of
time/season
Drought results from the variability in climate

Types of drought
Meteorological drought
Less than average rainfall for a defined period of time
Need definition of area/time
Agricultural drought
Links meteorological drought to agriculture
Accounts for vulnerabilty of crops to water shortage during
growing season

Hydrological drought
Links meteorological drought to available water resources
in streams, reservoirs and aquifiers
Often defined on the level of a river basin

Sequence of drought impacts

Defining drought
When does a drought start and when does it
end
Definition of a drought threshold
Meteorological percentage of average rainfall
Agricultural degree of plant water stress at various
stages of plant development impact on yield
Hydrological availability of water resources as
compared to avarege availability includes water
resources such as snow, groundwater etc.

Impact of droughts
Agriculture
Crops affected by drought loss of harvest
Livestock suffers due to drought conditions (feeds, pastures)

Energy production
Lower availability of water for hydropower generation

Recreation, tourism, forestry

Environmental impacts & social impacts
vegetation loss & soil erosion

socio-economic losses substantial - largest of all natural hazards

Effect of some major droughts in Australia

Effect of drought in Yogyakarta

90
80
70

60

Debit (m3/dt)

50
40
30
20
10
0
Jan1 Jan2 Peb1 Peb2 Mrt1 Mrt2 Apr1 Apr2 Mei1 Mei2 Jun1 Jun2 Jul1 Jul2 Agt1 Agt2 Sep1 Sep2 Okt1 Okt2 Nop1 Nop2 Des1 Des2

-10
Ketersediaan Air
Kebutuhan Air
Imbangan Air

Flood

General definition
Flood:
Condition of surface water (river, lake, ocean), in which the
water level or the discharge (or both) exceeds a certain
value. This does not necessarily result in flooding. The
change in discharge at a specific place over time is referred
to as the hydrograph, the highest value is the flood peak.
Flooding:
Condition where areas normally dry are inundated - this
may have negative consequences on the inundated areas,
but it may also have positive consquences

Several types of flooding

Natural:
Flooding from rivers
Excess precipitation intensity & duration
Fluvial floods (slow), flash floods (fast)

Flooding from groundwater

Coastal & Lake flooding
Non-natural
Flooding in urban areas (pluvial flooding)
Flooding due to failure of dams

fluvial flooding
Typically slow onset (beginning) floods
Flooding in large basins - widerspread
Long duration weeks, months

Rhine & Meuse Rivers, 1995

Meuse at Borgharen, Netherlands

Flash floods
Rapid onset floods
unpredictable
Typically local scale / smaller
basins
Convective storms,
mountainous regions
Arid zone Wadis
May be extremely
destructive

Pluvial flooding
Local floods urban
Intense precipitation
impervious areas
impeded drainage

Large disruption,
financial damage,
typically low casualties
Health risks may be
large

Flooding in Bombay, India, 2005

Over 1000 Casualties

Groundwater flooding
A groundwater flood
event results from a rise
in groundwater level
sufficient for the water
table to intersect the
ground surface and
inundate low lying
areas
Very slow rising may
last very long (months!)

Somme valley at Abbeville, France, April 2001

(Ministre de lEcologie et du Dveloppement Durable)

Coastal flooding ; cyclone Nargis

Tropical cyclone Nargis

Landfall in Burma, 2nd May 2008
Inundation of the Irriwaddy Delta through 2-3m surge
Death toll in excess of 80,000
Major organizational problems
Ineffective warning
Flawed post flood response

Flooding due to failure of dam

Earth dam in the Snake River, Idaho
Failed in June, 1956 folllowing leak in Dam wall and
subsequent collapse

Flood causes
Human interference - man made floods:
over 50% of floods is related to human interference
(modification of natural drainage systems with adverse effects
up- or downstream)
Direct causes (short-term):
failure flood defense structures (inadequate design,
construction, maintenance, operation)
demolition of levees (irrigation, military purposes)
Indirect causes (long-term):
land-use and spatial planning
river training (confinement)
water and river basin management (groundwater settlement/subsidence, deforestation)
urbanization (sealing) and settlement in flood prone areas
changing variability due e.g. to climate change

Flood mitigation