Integrated Management of Flood and Drought

Hydrological extremes in the form of floods and droughts have devastating impacts on the environment and society. Most research on hydrological extremes focuses on flood or drought individually, while they are two extremes of the same hydrological cycle. In addition, the IPCC (2012) report proposes investigating how these hydrological extremes would respond to future climate change and its associated uncertainties for better designing mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Evidence of a changing climate has raised concerns regarding the future sustainability of current flood protection systems and, on the opposite side, on the coping capabilities of these systems against water scarcity (drought). In the Netherlands, lack of water means disruption for transport and ecosystem services, saltwater intrusion along the coast, lack of freshwater for agriculture and domestic use, but also possible damages on flood defences and soil subsidence.

This research analyses the hypothesis: "an integrated management approach of flood and drought is necessary". It attempts to identify the relationship between the hydrological extremes and the conditions in which an integrated approach is beneficial. The research also aims to explore the influence of climate change on the predetermined links and the potential benefits of this approach for providing better adaptation strategies and increasing resilience against these hydrological extremes.

PhD supervision: Dr. Elisa Ragno, Prof. Dr. Ir. Matthijs Kok, and Dr. Ir. Oswaldo Morales Napoles
Section: Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk

For more information, please contact: S.HariharanSudha-1@tudelft.nl