Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

2. Methodology

3. Result

4. Discussion

5. Conclusion

Declaration of competing interest

Acknowledgement

References

Abstract

This paper highlights the factors affecting SMEs flood disaster preparedness located in Segamat District of Malaysia. An interviewer-assisted survey using a set of flood disaster preparedness questionnaire (developed and validated by a team of disaster management experts from various background) were implemented among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) business owners and managers (n = 253). The analysis of regression provided insights into the various factors affecting the contribution of small and medium-sized businesses towards flood preparedness activities. Findings demonstrated that risk perception is the most consistent factors in influencing preparedness actions. Besides that, previous experiences on floods, retails sectors and male ownership also contributed to a high level of flood disaster preparedness engagement. This research gave insight at why small and medium-sized businesses are involved in disaster preparedness activities which includes discussion from a review of previous findings.

1. Introduction

The study of disaster management and business organisation is becoming an increasingly popular field today. There have been numerous previous studies which explored the various aspects of disaster management and impact including the effect of implementing disaster preparedness activities. Tierney et al. [1] are amongst the earliest scholars who researched disaster preparedness involving firms in a chemical processing company. Drabek [2] conducted a study on the disaster preparedness of private business where the extent of evacuation planning involving 65 tourist firms included a written plan, property protection, staff training, exercise and drill, and employer commitment. Dahlhamer & Souza [3] further explored preparedness of private firms by comparing the preparedness of two business sample locations (Memphis and Des Moines) based on the previous earthquake disaster and Midwest Flood respectively. Tierney [4] also researched the Northridge Earthquake impact on businesses and identified earthquake preparedness measures that businesses had undertaken before the disaster. A more recent study was conducted by Sadiq [5], focusing on determining the effects of organisational size on preparedness actions.

The sudden impact of disaster does not only affect domestic activities (household and local community) but also pose a serious concern to commercial businesses which can include structural damage, interruption of utility services and an indirect cause of productivity loss (travel immobility of both customers and workers to the business premises) [4]. These impacts of disasters can be reduced through preparedness activities undertaken by organisations. Disaster preparedness comprises of activities designed to enhance the ability of businesses in undergoing emergency actions to protect properties, contain disaster damage and promote engagement of post-disaster restoration and early recovery [6]. The preparedness activities conducted by organisations are often influenced by several factors.

Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

2. Evolution of China’s distant water fisheries and management policy

3. Challenges of the development and management policy of China’s distant water fisheries

4. Prospects of the development and management policy of China’s distant water fisheries

5. Conclusion

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Declaration of Competing Interest

Acknowledgements

References

Abstract

China’s distant water fisheries management policy has made significant contributions to the development of distant water fisheries since 1985. Analyzing the evolution of China’s distant water fisheries management policy is conducive to solving China’s frequent IUU problems and promoting further development of sustainable fisheries. This paper first summarizes how China’s distant water fisheries management policy has evolved, which can be divided into four stages: the start-up period (1985–1990), the rapid development period (1991–1997), the sustainable development period (1998–2007), and the optimization and adjustment period (2008-present). Then the characteristics of current distant water fisheries management are summarized, including how management has adapted to international rules, emphasize sustainable fisheries, diversification and facilitation of management methods. China’s distant water fisheries management policy still faces severe challenges in terms of technology, marine rights, management system, industrial structure, and employee capabilities. Finally, this paper highlights the importance of attaching importance to science and technology, re-evaluating distant water fisheries subsidies based on environmental policies and IUU activities, establishing a polycentric governance mechanism with stakeholders at the core, improving the supervision system, and establishing overseas distant water fisheries bases to strengthen international cooperation.

1. Introduction

Nowadays, it is widely agreed that traditional approaches to flood risk management—which focus on ‘defending against the water’—are no longer sufficient and that integrated flood risk management is required instead (Hartmann & Driessen, 2017; Merz et al., 2010; Pahl-Wostl, 2007; Warner et al., 2012; Woltjer & Al, 2007). In integrated flood risk management, traditional flood defense measures (e.g., building or strengthening dikes) are combined with measures that stress the ‘accommodation of the water’ (e.g., dike relocation); measures that take other land use functions (e.g., housing, recreation, and nature conservation), and the extent to which these measures increase local and regional spatial qualities, into account (Johnson & Priest, 2008; Nillesen & Kok, 2015; Van Herk et al., 2015). Whereas existing studies often focus on the policy instruments involved in the initiation and planning phases of integrated flood risk management (e.g., Busscher et al., 2019; Ran & Nedovic-Budic, 2017; Thieken et al., 2016), research into policy instruments in the implementation phase remains limited (see e.g., Moss, 2008). Implementation can be seen as the process that starts with the contracting of a project and ends when construction is finished.

In the Netherlands, the €2.3 billion Room for the River program is often considered the incarnation of the Dutch approach to integrated flood risk management (Jong & Van den Brink, 2017; Meyer, 2009; Van Buuren et al., 2010). The objective of the Room for the River program is twofold: the accommodation of higher flood levels, i.e., water safety, and improving the spatial quality of the riverine areas (Ruimte voor de Rivier, 2007). While much has already been learned from current research about the program (Rijke et al., 2012; Zevenbergen et al., 2015), research providing insight into the implementation of the Room for the River projects, and in particular the policy instruments used, is still scarce. Now that the Room for the River program has come to an end (Olde Wolbers et al., 2018), this provides the opportunity to analyze what policy instruments enable successful integrated flood risk management in the implementation phase.

Abstract

Potential future increases in flooding due to climate change need to be taken into consideration when designing flood defences or planning new infrastructure or housing developments. Existing guidance on climate change allowances in Great Britain was based on research that developed a sensitivity-based approach to estimating the impacts of climate change on flood peaks, which was applied with catchment-based hydrological models. Here, the sensitivity-based approach is applied with a national-scale grid-based hydrological model, producing modelled flood response surfaces for every river cell on a 1 km grid. This provides a nationally consistent assessment of the sensitivity of flood peaks across Britain to climatic changes. The flood response surfaces are then combined with the most recent climate change projections, UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18), to provide location-specific information on the potential range of impacts on floods across the country, for three flood return periods, three future time-slices and four emissions scenarios. An accompanying web-tool provides a convenient way to explore the large amount of data produced. Consideration is now being given to how to use the latest work to update guidance on climate change and flood peaks, including a workshop held to gather stakeholder views.

1. Introduction

One of the ways in which climate change may particularly impact on society and the natural environment is through changes in river flows, especially extreme high or low flows. Floods are a significant risk globally, and the potential for climate change to increase the magnitude and frequency of flood events is a major concern (Klijn et al., 2015). The few global studies available suggest that flood hazard will increase over about half the globe, but with significant spatial variability (Jim´enez Cisneros et al., 2014). In Britain, the general conclusion is that flooding is likely to increase in future (Bell et al., 2012, 2016; Kay et al., 2015; Collet et al., 2018b). Indeed, there is some evidence that recent flood events have already been influenced by climate change (Kay et al., 2011, 2018). Thus in Britain there is specific guidance available to both flood management authorities and local planners, which aims to help them allow for the potential impacts of climate change when managing flood risk (Reynard et al., 2017).

1. Introduction

2. Methodology

3. Results and discussion

4. Conclusions

Declaration of Competing Interest

Acknowledgements

References

Abstract

Urban flash flood poses significant hazards on urbanised area, in particular to buildings and infrastructure due to its fast occurrence and high magnitude in financial loss. Risk assessment of the flash flood identify the critically flood-prone areas and provide assistance in improving the resiliency of mitigation plans. In this study, we developed an assessment of flood susceptibility, vulnerability, the impact of socio-economic, and integrated flash flood index based on the historical data of flood events recorded in Kuala Lumpur. Data of rainfall characteristics, inundated location, and areas are extracted from the reports of flood events from the year 2005-2015. Each event is then segregated according to the place of incidence, providing point-based recurrence of flood at each identified location. Indicators of assessment include frequency and month of occurrence, rainfall characteristics (of intensity, duration, and depth), and land use categories. A total of 137 (point) locations have been identified, where each location is colour-coded based on a 5-point rating scale. The point-based flood-prone locations are validated with the watershed based of 50-ARI rainfall modelling, providing comprehensive hotspot maps. Developed interactive colour-coded flood prone maps facilitate relevant agencies for improved coordination in flash flood mitigation, response and early warning.

Introduction

Urban flooding occurs when the capacity of both natural and drainage systems could not cater to the volume of precipitation and runoff discharge within an urbanised area. High surface runoff discharge from heavy rainfall due to impervious surfaces and high building densities escalate the urban flooding (Gaitan et al., 2016; Yao et al., 2016). Although urban flooding is commonly associated with the short duration-high intensity precipitation, such flooding also has been recorded due to prolonged moderate rainfall (Coulthard et al., 2007; Abdullah and Julien, 2014a; Abdullah et al., 2018).

Flash flood is defined as the flood events resulted from high precipitation in short duration, usually less than 6 hours (Suparta et al., 2014). Localised convective storms in a small catchment within short time results in fast-rising of water level, usually with no advance or little time of warning. As such, the flood occurrence in the urbanised area due to insufficient drainage capacity from short duration-high intensity rainfall-induced the urban flash flooding (UFF). Considering the short duration of rainfall, the limb of the hydrograph rose fast to the peak flow whereby the UFF can even be visible just only after 30 minutes of rainfall. The non-alerted and unpredicted flood events caused devastating impacts to the road infrastructures, particularly at the low-lying areas (Doocy et al., 2013). Risk assessment of UFF on the intra-urban transportation network by evaluating the impact of flood depth (obtained through the 2D hydrodynamic modelling) and traffic or probability analysis provide a quantitative impact of UFF (Yin et al., 2016; Li et al., 2018).

Introduction

Urban flood modelling within the DCs

Calibration of flood models

Conclusion – the challenges now for flood modelling?

Acknowledgements

References

Abstract

The prevalence of flooding events and the associated risk in the urban areas is an increasingly important issue of global significance, although it is more critical for the developing countries (DCs), such as Nigeria, where the hazard is often poorly understood and understudied. With current predictions of worsening future scenarios, it is important to pursue integrated flood risk management approaches which incorporate flood modelling. This paper is part of a research programme which is assessing and modelling urban flood risks in the DCs and data poor areas. It focuses on the latest science and philosophy in relation to urban flood risk management in the DCs. It reviews the literature around current flood modelling techniques and provides a comprehensive table of the different approaches alongside the strengths and weaknesses of the different models. Indeed, research in the vicinity of flood modelling has been extensive, and over the years has resulted in the development of a wide variety of schema, datasets and methodologies for simulating flood hydrodynamics. However, the actual potential of these developments has not been demonstrated in the management of flood risk within the DCs. To date, a perfect model or generic technique which can capture every aspect of flood hydrodynamics in an optimal fashion within the diversity of study locations is still unrealistic. Thus, to bypass the present flood modelling challenges within the context of the DCs, extensive calibration of state-of-the-art flood models is of significance. Additionally, researchers within the DCs should be fascinated by the prospect of developing bespoke flood models based on simple mathematical formulations which are easy to parameterise using global, open source and freely- accessible datasets.

Introduction

he rate at which flooding occurs in recent times has been unprecedented, with the implication that only few coastal, rural, and urban environments still have their natural states unaltered [67,133,151]. This situation is of global significance, although it seems that the perception of flooding in the developing countries (DCs) for example Nigeria, is being nuanced by obvious limitations in research, economy and policy framework [111]. During flooding, water largely covers land areas not usually covered by water, destroying farmland and critical infrastructure, displacing human populations, disrupting economic activities, and in the worst cases, leading to epidemic and death ([135], pg.309). These incidences, especially those relating to fluvial and coastal flooding often were due to sea-level rise, ice melt, overtopping or destruction of water defences and coastal tsunamis [35,93]. However, pluvial flooding, the focus of this review, appears to be widespread in recent times especially within the urban areas where its impacts are increasingly a major source of concern for urban residents and policy makers [38,75,90,152].

Pluvial flooding is basically due to increased frequency and intensity of rainfall, although there are a number of other potential causative factors which have been identified. In Dawson et al. [39] and Adeloye and Rustum [5] pluvial flooding was problematised on the basis of land use change, geomorphology, failure of urban drainage facilities and poor urban planning. Mark et al. [95] perceived pluvial flooding with regards to the scale of its impacts which in fact seem to correlate positively with the large number of human population and development assets within the urban areas. The study demonstrates that urban areas are the hotspot of large-scale flooding impacts to the same degree that they are typically fundamental to any nations’ sustainable development. Along with the much-discussed global climate change, which triggers heavy storms in recent times, current knowledge of rapid urbanisation and demographic pressures which characterise the DCs underscores the inclusive nature of urban pluvial flooding, and the primacy of galvanizing discussions for the management of its threats within the DCs [58,156,164,168].

1. Introduction

2. Background

3. Methods

4. Results

5. Discussion

6. Conclusions

Declaration of competing interest

Acknowledgements

References

Abstract

The lower 800 km of the Missouri River has been incising for decades. However, the 2011 flood scoured more sediment than the previous 12 yr combined. The river rebounded in the following two years, re-depositing over 70% of the sediment scoured during the 2011 flood. Historic evidence suggests that past Missouri River floods may have followed similar scour-rebound patterns. This paper analyzes 16 channel surveys from 1987 to 2014, including 50,723 total cross sections to document the morphological history of the lower 800 km of the Missouri River over the last thirty years, including flood disturbance and long-term trends. The last thirty years on the Missouri River included two basic morphologic regimes: steady incision during low-to-moderate flow periods and rapid scour-rebound responses to floods. Surveys collected during the 2011 flood demonstrate that the river scoured throughout the flood (including the falling limb) and did not begin a rebound phase until after the flood. The analysis also identifies sediment sinks associated with each of these scour regimes (flood scour and incision between floods) that exceed the total volume eroded from the bed during those periods. Results suggest that floodplain deposition may induce the supply limitation that drives flood scour on this large sand-bed river. Additionally, aggregate mining removes substantially more sediment than the total river incision between floods and the reaches with maximum scour during the 1993 and 2011 floods correspond to the zones of aggregate mining

Introduction

Flood disturbance and recovery are critical components of river morphology (Schumm, 1976; Wolman and Gerson, 1978; Lewin, 1989; Knighton, 1998; Simon and Rinaldi, 2006; Phillips and Dyke, 2016) and ecology (Resh 1982; Ward and Stanford, 1983; Lake, 2000). Fluvial form and lotic communities reflect the influence of periodic, powerful events separated by extended periods of low-to-moderate flows. Rivers respond to disturbance events in a variety of ways, on multiple time scales. Additionally, river responses to disturbance-recovery cycles can be complicated by a variety of natural and anthropogenic influences driving long-term incision (e.g., Downs et al., 2013). Parsing transient disturbance-recovery impacts from long-term morphological trends can be particularly challenging on large sand-bed rivers, where noise from rapidly-migrating bedforms can drown out the signal of actual morphological change at individual cross sections. Moreover, remote sensing technologies such as LiDAR, photogrammetry, and structure from motion cannot detect morphological change under meters of turbid water. Currently, only underwater sonar can measure bed shape and change in these deep, turbid systems, which is time consuming and costly over large spatial domains.

Because of the difficulty of large scale morphological studies on large sand-bed rivers, these systems are underrepresented in morphological literature (Hudson, 2002), including the disturbance-recovery literature, despite growing suspicion that their morphologic behaviors differ from those documented in smaller rivers (Latrubesse, 2008). Repeated surveys on the Missouri River present an opportunity to investigate the relative importance of disturbance-recovery cycles and long-term incision on a large sand-bed river.

Flood risk is generally composed of two parts: the probability of happening a hazardous event and its consequences. The first part is the source of risk and it is mainly given by the flooding magnitudes, although flow velocities and flooding permanence may play important roles. The second one reflects the vulnerability of the socioeconomic system exposed to flooding. Three aspects can represent vulnerability: exposure, susceptibility and value. Additionally, resilience can work to diminish vulnerability, incorporating the system responsive capacity. However, it is usual that risk assessment considers only the direct damage of flooding, tending to prioritize areas with high potential losses using an economic-based approach. This approach can exclude socioeconomically vulnerable communities from receiving proper attention and consequent investments in flooding mitigation measures. In this context, this paper presents an index to measure the Socioeconomic Recovery Capacity of urban areas prone to flooding through a multi-criteria approach, contributing to knowledge by introducing a social bias into flood risk discussion. The Flood Risk to Socioeconomic Recovery Capacity Index (Ri-SoRCI) considers the relative potential damage of flooding events, based on the capacity of the affected inhabitants to recover from losses. The Ri-SoRCI represents a socioeconomic parcel of the flood risk, through two indicators. The first represents the economic recovery capacity of an impacted region. The second indicates the region’s social vulnerability. The Ri-SoRCI was applied to the Canal do Mangue basin, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, supported by an environmental modeling tool able to simulate flooding phenomena with an integrated approach. The result shows the risk variation for different areas, from the socioeconomic point of view, subsidizing decision-making for public investments and allowing the construction of sustainability indicators to assess multiple scenarios. The case study validated the proposed index.

INTRODUCTION

The urban population of the world has been growing rapidly over the last years, having increased from 30% in 1950 to 55% in 2018. By 2050, the world’s population residing in urban areas is projected to be 68% (DESA/UN-WUP, 2018). The current number of people at risk from flooding is about 1.2 billion and, by 2050, this number rises to 1.6 billion, nearly 20% of the world’s population (WWAP/UN-Water, 2018). Urbanization associated with changes in land cover results in significant increase of impervious areas and decrease in vegetated surfaces, heavily modifying the characteristics of the surface runoff (Goonetilleke et al., 2005), increasing peak flows and stormwater volumes (Barbosa et al., 2012). Such effects associated with a forecasted increase in the precipitation intensity, caused by global climate change (Meehl et al., 2007), can intensify the stress on drainage infrastructures and increase flood hazards (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2018), expanding flood prone areas (PetitBoix et al., 2017). The increased flood risk encountered in today’s cities is mainly related to changes in land use and to the intense process of urbanization (Gogate et al., 2017).

1. Introduction

2. Flood risk management

3. Flood resilience

4. Conclusions

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Research Data

References

Abstract

Flood risk management has proven successful at reducing the threat of some flooding hazards, preventing loss of life during flooding events and easing the economic burden to communities and regions following floods. It is a useful approach for assessing risks and guiding decisions on implementing protection measures. Recently, in addition to flood risk management, flood resilience is discussed as a new approach in academic literature. This contribution tries to unravel the relation between flood risk management and flood resilience. Therefore, three aspects are discussed: the definition of resilience, its measurement methods and also its possible implementation and embedding in flood risk management.

Introduction

Resilience is a relatively new concept as applied to environmental hazard management [2]. Currently, a risk-based approach is dominating the way society deals with natural hazards, such as floods. Whereas the risk-based approach provides a rational way of balancing the costs of mitigation and adaptation measures [38], resilience embraces the uncertainties associated with natural hazards by focusing on the ability of affected systems to absorb shocks [33].

The idea of resilience follows closely with a modern emphasis on integrated solutions to environmental issues which are becoming increasingly complex as they expand geographically, economically, socially and politically. At the same time, resilience is considered to be too abstract, apolitical and ahistorical in social science [49]. The traditional ways of applying measures which consider closed and simplified boundary conditions are no longer adequate. In a modern world, processes and people are highly dynamic and far-reaching. Therefore, our measures must reflect society by learning to become similarly flexible and inclusive.

1. Introduction

2. Methods

3. Study sites and data

4. Results

5. Discussion and conclusion

Acknowledgements

Appendix A. Supplementary data

References

Abstract

Assessing flood risk using stationary flood frequency analysis techniques is commonplace. However, it is increasingly evident that the stationarity assumption of these analyses does not hold as anthropogenic climate change could shift a site’s hydroclimate beyond the range of historical behaviors. We employ nonstationary flood frequency models using the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution to model changing flood risk for select seasons at twelve National Parks across the U.S. In this GEV model, the location and/or scale parameters of the distribution are allowed to change as a function of time-variable covariates. We use historical precipitation and modeled flows from the Variable Infiltration Capacity model (VIC), a landsurface model that simulates land–atmosphere fluxes using water and energy balance equations, as covariates to fit a best nonstationary GEV model to each site. We apply climate model projections of precipitation and VIC flows to these models to obtain future flood probability estimates. Our model results project a decrease in flood risk for sites in the southwestern U.S. region and an increase in flood risk for sites in northern and eastern regions of the U.S. for the selected seasons. The methods and results presented will enable the NPS to develop strategies to ensure public safety and efficient infrastructure management and planning in a nonstationary climate.

Introduction

Anthropogenic climate change has increased global mean annual land-surface air temperatures and evidence supports a change in the behavior of precipitation (Hartmann et al., 2013) and streamflow extremes (Hirsch and Ryberg, 2012; Mallakpour and Villarini, 2015; Ahn and Palmer, 2016). Given the non-stationary nature of our climate system at present, the common assumption in traditional flood frequency analysis techniques that flood risk will remain stationary into the future must be questioned – climate change is anticipated to continue to shift hydroclimate beyond the range of historical behaviors (Milly et al., 2008).

As temperatures rise, we expect an increase in total precipitable water in the atmosphere (Trenberth et al., 2003), which was already observed over much of North America (Ross and Elliott, 1996). Consequently, Hartmann et al. (2013) suggest a likely observed increase in either the frequency or intensity of heavy precipitation events across North America, particularly in central North America. Studies using extreme value theory and precipitation-temperature scaling also generally support this claim (DeGaetano, 2009; Wasko and Sharma, 2017).

In risk assessment of spatially distributed infrastructure, the probability of demand exceeding capacity is evaluated across the system. We describe and compare two levee system reliability analysis frameworks for seismic and high-water demands. The first approach is general, but computationally intensive, and uses Monte Carlo simulations to model capacity and demand for “segments” (i.e., elemental levee lengths) as spatially correlated random variables. We apply a capacity correlation model derived from seismic case histories in Japan. The seismic demand correlation model is based on global ground motion data, whereas the high-water correlation is taken as unity. The second approach achieves computational efficiency by grouping segments into physics-based “reaches” (i.e., length of levee having uniform statistical distributions of capacity and demand). Statistics and spatial correlation of the limit state function are computed using a procedure based on the firstorder reliability method. The probability of failure of the reach is then computed using level-crossing statistics. The application of level crossing statistics required an adjustment, introduced here, to previously utilized capacity correlation functions. We apply both methods for a levee system subjected to realistic demand and capacity distributions and show that characteristic lengths (defined as lengths of levee that can be considered as statistically independent) are comparable for high-water and seismic demands. This outcome is specific to the considered failure mechanisms and is driven by use of similar capacity correlation models, whereas differences in demand correlation models have limited impact.

Introduction

Levees are defined as man-made or natural embankments along rivers or water bodies. Their primary purpose is to provide protection against high-water events. The performance of levees when subjected to high-water or earthquakes is essential for the resilience of surrounding communities. Despite their critical function, many levees were not engineered at the time of their construction and are often founded on soft and weak soils. As a result, levees are frequently damaged during high-water events (water level rise in the river channel; e.g., [1–3]) and following major earthquakes (e.g., [4–8]). For levees that continuously impound water, a single failure anywhere along their length will produce flooding, and hence comprises system failure. For levees that intermittently impound water, the seismic failure probability is related to the combination of seismic deformation potential and probability of high-water during or shortly following the event, whereas the high-water failure probability is simply the single-segment failure probability during a high-water event. In either case (continuously or intermittently loaded), levees constitute spatially distributed series systems, which present particular challenges for reliability assessment. This paper describes two conceptually similar approaches for analysis of levee reliability, with an emphasis on the system probability of failure given knowledge of capacity and demand on a more local level. We defer to other documents for recommended analysis procedures for computing capacity at the segment, or crosssection level (Zimmaro et al. [9] for seismic, URS Corporation, Jack R. Benjamin & Associates Inc. [10] for high-water).

Soybean is an important food crop containing abundant protein and vegetable oil [1]. Soybean is unique among crops, because it supplies protein equal in quality to that of animal sources [2]. Soybean is advantageous for biodiesel producing, which is converted from vegetable oil, because it is produced without or nearly zero nitrogen [3]. In addition, soybean is rich in phytochemicals such as isoflavones and phenolic compounds [4], which contributed to reducing the risk of heart/ cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, and cancer [5]. Furthermore, it is possible for soybean to step into symbiosis with rhizobia to provide nitrogen for plant growth and development [6]. These findings document several aspects of soybean, including nutritional elements, biodiesel production, pharmacological values, and symbiosis potential. Soybean production is affected by abiotic constraints, including weather-related phenomena, soil-nutrient availability, salinity, and photoperiod [2]. Annual global losses in crop production due to flooding are comparable to those caused by drought [7]. Flooding is composed of several underlying changes such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and phytotoxins inside plants and from environment [8]. Due to restricted gas exchange, deficit of energy/carbohydrate and accumulation of volatile ethylene occurred by flooding [9]. Drought poses as another constraint for plant growth and terrestrial ecosystem productivity [10]. Drought induced meristematic cells, reduced cell division [11], and limited cell elongation/expansion growth [12]. These findings indicate that flooding and drought are complex abiotic stressors affecting plant growth. A series of findings were obtained in soybean with different exposure time to flooding and drought stresses using proteomic techniques (Fig. 1). With flooding duration, a plethora of biological processes underwent, including signal transduction, hormone regulation, transcriptional control, glucose degradation, sucrose accumulation, alcoholic fermentation, mitochondrial impairment, proteasome-mediated proteolysis, and cell wall loosening [13]. Signal transduction of calcium [14] and hormone regulation of abscisic acid [15] as well as gibberellic acid [16] were activated by flooding. Moreover, fermentation [17] as well as gamma-aminobutyric acid shunt [18] were induced in flooded soybean. As reported, lignification [19] and electron transport chains [18] were altered; however, ROS scavenging [19] and protein glycosylation [20] were suppressed. Regarding post-flooding recovery, scavenging of toxic radicals [21], ATP generation/secondary metabolism [22], and cell wall metabolism/cytoskeleton reorganization [23] were responsible for recovery. These findings indicate that different strategies might be utilized in soybean under flooding conditions and during post-flooding recovery stage.

”Floods are acts of God, but flood losses are largely an act of man.” (Gilbert White, 1945) Natural disasters including flooding, earthquakes and extreme weather events have escalated in recent years and increasingly capture attention on a global scale. Resilient urban design has become an essential theme for cities to withstand disasters, yet cities and their infrastructure are becoming vulnerable and more threatened; and flood protection measurements are yet to adapt their approach to the principles of resilience found in the natural world. Conventional structures of flood protection are increasingly questioned among academics, decision makers and communities, and new approaches are urgently needed at local and regional scales. In this sense, Hall et al. (1997) affirmed that explicit assessment of risks has in the past tended to be limited to the appraisal of major decisions to invest in flood defence infrastructure. This paper highlights the potential role of using ecological principles in urban design to mitigate flood consequences. It identifies the minimum acceptable level of functionality from which urban systems can bounce back/forth or forward from a flood disaster to a state of equilibrium. In order to realize this objective, an exploration of the nature of resilience pivotal dimension will be identified. This is going to be envisioned in connection with the characteristics of urban design. The theoretical basis of urban design main commodity will be examined due to realize the essential functionality required during and after flood event. From epistemological perspective, and in the light of the escalating environmental inevitability, solution for the problem within urban design discipline can be realized into two interrelated urban levels: 1-Urban Innovation: responsive change achieved by advancing the technical properties of manmade objects and materials over the ground and the geotechnical aspects of the ground itself to account for a more adaptive performance in times of flooding. 2-Urban Regeneration: which relies on the urban design capacities to invest in inherent resilience and develop a flood-responsive physical urban form. The paper is shedding the light on the second level, identifying the resilient value of urban design in correspondence with the relevant resilience perspective. Although the field of urban design is very well established and clearly addressed, and the resilience line of thinking witnessed a considerable theorizing throughout the last decade, yet, potentials of association between urban design and resilience are awaiting realization. The author is not claiming to address the full nexus between resilience thinking and urban design, rather an initial effort to specify where the urban design as a discipline systemically meets the resilience thinking and on which resilience perspective. Though, the study offers quantifiable approaches in applying selective ecological-built resilience scenarios.

According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China (MWR and NBS, 2013), there are currently more than 98000 reservoirs in China, with a total capacity of over 900 billion cubic meters. Of these reservoirs dams, up to 90% are embankment dams. However, due to historical reasons (e.g., inadequate survey and design, poor construction quality, and improper management), more than 36% of these dams and reservoirs are in dangerous conditions, with various degrees of risk, which not only limit the use of the reservoirs and maximization of economic benefits, but may also cause potentially catastrophic consequences like life loss and property damage if they are wrecked. For these reasons, dam safety and danger condition evaluation are of the utmost importance (Hartford and Baecher, 2004; Jiang and Fan, 2008). Moreover, according to the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD, 1973), nearly 50% of earth dam disasters in China and one-third in the world are caused by flood overtopping, seepage, and piping, and other causes make up the rest (Hege, 1997; Jin, 2008). In principle, an earth dam is considered to be destroyed after suffering flood overtopping, which might lead to unexpected consequences. Therefore, it is important and urgent to improve danger degree analysis and assessment, thus offering a scientific basis and reference for risk management and security decision-making. In the case of modification of dangerous dams, including repairs and reconstruction, economic feasibility and social safety goals need to be addressed. When evaluating the priority of earth dam rehabilitation, it is necessary to estimate the danger degree of these dams and reservoirs and sort them, in order to determine the urgency of reinforcement, which will contribute to reasonable allocation of limited resources. Thus, danger degree evaluation is a potentially useful approach. On the other hand, a flood-water resources utilization strategy with higher standards has been put forward to meet the requirements of rapid industrial and agricultural development. Fortunately, reservoirs are one of the most efficient types of infrastructure for integrated water resources development and management, and flood-limiting water level (FLWL) during the flood season is an important parameter in reservoir operation and the key to coordinating the contradiction between flood risk and reservoir benefit (Eum and Simonovic, 2010; Yun and Singh, 2008). In addition, an annual fixed FLWL for the whole flood season may reduce electricity generation, because of the lower water level. In this case, water shortage may occur when the flood season is delayed or ends prematurely, which prevents the reservoir from refilling to the normal water level by the end of the flood season. Sub-season flooding and the corresponding FLWL for flood control have been proposed to coordinate flood control and water resources utilization. When the highest water level in front of the dam exceeds the elevation of the dam crest, it will lead to earth dam overtopping and cause earth dam failure. Higher standards for flood water resources utilization seek a more suitable scheduling solution for reservoir optimal operation. The scheduling solution with optimal utilization of water resources, including flood resources that could otherwise lead to disasters in some rainy regions, cannot excess a dam’s flood control risk. Therefore, research on the danger degree for flood control risk of earth dam reservoir staged operation is a key step for solidification or reconstruction for dangerous reservoirs, as well as an effective way to flood water resources utilization.