The Role of Sustainable Land and Water Conservation Practices in Flood Mitigation

Abstract

Promising Land and Water Conservation Practices (LWCPs) play a vital role in restraining floods and keeping the land productive. Floods are usually destructive and increase the risk of drowning, waterborne diseases, malnutrition, and multiple long-term knock-on effects. Similarly, the 2022 monsoon season has prompted the most severe flood in Pakistan. The main objective of this review is to highlight the importance of LWCPs as an adaptation strategy for flood mitigation. Moreover, different LWCPs are discussed concerning studies carried out in different regions and published in scientific journals, technical reports, and notes from experts. It was observed that both the in situ and ex situ LWCPs have a significant effect on reducing land degradation and flood control. Additionally, most of the reviewed studies showed a positive impact of LWCPs on agricultural productivity, primarily due to the retention of nutrients and moisture. Hence, land conservation practices including biological and agronomic measures (i.e., contour farming, conservation tillage, strip cropping, vegetation, etc.), and mechanical or engineering methods (i.e., check dams, bunding, ponds/reservoirs, etc.) are aimed at reducing the run-off velocity and mitigating the floods. The results of this study will encourage the stakeholders to adopt LWCPs to lessen flood hazards and uplift agricultural production by limiting the land degradation processes.

Keywords

• soil conservation
• runoff
• flood risk management
• check dams
• agronomic measures
• watershed management