Introduction to Spatial Flood Risk Management: Implementing Catchment-based Retention and Resilience on Private Land

Abstract

Land is needed for flood risk management to store excess water and attenuate it without major damage. This land is mostly in private ownership. It is imperative to understand not only the hydrological effects of natural flood retention, but also socio-economic consequences and instruments of land management to access the land. This book explores different options regarding storage of water in the catchment during flood events: in the hinterland with decentral measures, along the rivers, and in resilient cities. These three areas are discussed from a focus on land as a biophysical system, including hydrological aspects, land as a socio-economic resource, and land as a possible solution for flood risk reduction, i.e. asking for policy interventions to activate privately owned. This comprehensive framework on the relation between land and flood risk management brings together knowledge about flooding land and how to implement spatial measures for retention and resilience.