What is it about?
This paper analyses the use of natural flood management at catchment scale through modifications to land use (afforestation). To achieve this it uses distributed hydrological modelling, sensitivity testing and scenario analysis.
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Why is it important?
Increased risk of heavy rainfall events from climate change has the potential to signficantly increase flood risk unless preventative measures are taken. Use of natural flood management as a non-structural intervention for flood alleviation is different from the use of hard engineering flood defences which can cause negative affects downstream and disruption of hydrological and ecological functions and amenity value. However, there is a lack of evidence on its full range of benefits, particularly linked to climate change. Previous work has mainly investigated small-scale use of natural flood management rather than at the larger catchment (or watershed) scale at which strategic decisions need to be taken.
Perspectives
We found that natural flood management has positive benefits in reducing flood risk but in the study catchment afforestation by itself seemed unlikely to be able to counter the increased flood risk from climate change. There are also issues relating to the complexity of trade-offs at catchment scale across multiple objectives that act against an optimal configuration of land use solely for flood alleviation. This particularly applies for afforestation with non-native conifer species and for afforestation on lowland areas of the catchment which both deliver the best gains for flood alleviation but are detrimental to other objectives (biodiversity, agricultural production etc.). Hence an effective flood alleviation strategy requires multiple interventions designed according to catchment characteristics and co-ordinated through integrated catchment management.
Iain Brown
University of Dundee
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Natural flood management, land use and climate change trade-offs: the case of Tarland catchment, Scotland, Hydrological Sciences Journal, August 2017, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2017.1366657.
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