Forensic Hydrology

Abstract

This chapter is intended to call the attention towards a relatively new topic in engineering forensics: forensic analysis in hydrology. This type of analysis can be seen as a useful tool through which it is possible, in a fully objective way, to determine the real causes, natural or human induced that made a natural phenomenon a disaster. This branch of forensic analysis and particularly of engineering forensics can be applied directly to the case of floods and droughts but is not limited to those extremes phenomena. In particular, the application of these concepts to case of floods looks immediate, but other applications such as drought analysis can be addressed too. In the case of flooding events causing material damages and even loss of human lives, forensic analysis can provide results that help to clarify responsibilities but specially to prevent that future disasters happen again. This chapter will provide important information for the new forensic hydrologists, a discipline with great future, especially in the context of climate change, which will increase the magnitude, and frequency of extremes.