Comparison of Available Measures for Increasing Floodplain Retention Capacity

Abstract

As in most recent years, there were again serious flood events in the Czech Republic and all over the world in 2010. This situation has been focusing attention on effective measures for controlling floods. Discussions have covered not just implementing purely technical flood control measures but also the feasibility of integrating the natural potential of floodplains in order to absorb and transform a flood wave. The natural floodplain could become an integral and desirable part of a complex basin flood control system, with many side benefits. However, while technical measures have been carefully studied, the effect of close-to-nature measures has not been well described and, especially, has not been well quantified. This paper therefore presents a research study on river and floodplain restoration and revitalization measures in catchments and their flood-control effect. Mathematical modelling methods were applied for selected localities and parts of river floodplains to estimate the transformation effects of a floodplain. Hydraulic modelling was applied to three case study localities in the Czech Republic, each circa 5–7 km in length. The transformation effect is compared not only for the natural state of the floodplain, but also for various theoretical scenarios in each locality.

Keywords

• floodplain retention capacity
• flood protection
• hydraulic modelling
• revitalization measures