A Theory on Urban Resilience to Floods- A Basis for Alternative Planning Practices- The article discusses flooding prevention strategies in cites. Engineering and Ecological Resilience were compared to see how these methods could help stop flooding damage. Engineering resilience was said to be the ability of engineering structures to bounce back to its original condition and function once the stress on it is removed. Ecological resilience is the, "Ability to survive regardless of the state"(Liao 2012, 2). It was discussed that when humans create systems to prevent flooding they cause themselves more harm by not being prepared when disastrous floods occur. If cities were aloud to mildly flood, then people would be able to constantly learn from these small flood and become more resilient to larger ones. The only way resilience can occur is through experience and learning from disturbances. Once a city flood it also can prolong socio-economic order causing cities to become undesirable. Undesirable regime causes, "Reduced resources and assets, large-scale population displacement, livelihood disruption, and loss of security"(Liao 2012, 5). Cities can also be built to prepare for the changing climate that is coming by becoming more creative and designing buildings that float, are wet-proofed or are elevated.1
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| 2) Ideas for floating homes in flood planes. |
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| 3) Floating homes to avoid flood damage. |
Rob Harmon: How the market can keep streams flowing- Rob Harmon addresses the issue of rivers and streams being over used to the extent they are dried up. In Montana alone there is four thousand miles of dewatered streams. These streams provide much needed support to ecosystems surrounding them. When the lands first were settled on people began to use the water in the streams, as more people came the first settlers were concerned with the amount of water that was being used. A law passed creating senior water rights; the first people there get rights to the water before newer settlers. However it also states if the seniors do not use their water rights they loose their water rights. Because of this disincentive everyone uses all their water to make sure they do not loose it, causing the streams to dry out in the summer. Also big companies that use a lot of water are concerned with their water footprint. They wanted to somehow give back what they use so Rob Harmon came up with the idea. The large companies now pay senior water holders to keep their water in the streams, this provides an incentive to not use the water saving the streams. Also they do not loose their water rights anymore. This idea is a market based, willing buyer willing seller solution. This process has helped to return 4 billion gallons of water to Montana streams alone. 4
Millionaire game questions:
-What is a reliable approach to long-term flood safety? Resilience-Based Management
- An area of low-lying ground adjacent to a river, formed mainly of river sediments and subject to flooding, is known as a(n)? Floodplain
- Why are levees, dams and channeling water NOT a good long term fix for flooding? Unpredicted changes to water level
- The Yolo Bypass for Sacramento (Yes that is it's real name) exists to do what? Prevent downstream flooding
- Should we be intervening in small floods or should we let them be? No
- _________ is concerned with anything which threatens stability of structure and ability to be fixed quickly if destroyed? Engineering Resilience
- What is NOT an internal factor that affect urban resilience to floods? Number of indoor plants
- How many pints of water does it take to make a pint of beer? 100
- What is a “senior water right” as discussed by Harmon in the video? Older properties get to more water
- Which of the following is urban resilience to floods NOT concerned with? Quick Recovery
- Why is river resilience imporant during floods? If polluted, no clean water
- Trees allow more water to be stored along rivers. _______ lower(s) this capacity. Urbanization
- What city sets a good example for flood adaptation? Rotterdam
- Buildings can be redesigned to be floating, on stilts or water proof. Why is this not more common? Too expensive
- A realistic plan for buildings in flood-prone areas DOES NOT include: Underground Buildings
Seminar Discussion- It was asked why flooding was good. Discussion was they help to spread nutrients to the surrounding ecosystems, also they help to build up resilience to floods and help to learn from small ones to help prepare for the larger more devastating floods.
These new flood resilient techniques are not used yet because they are to expensive for many cities to explore, however in the end can save tremendous amounts of money from not damaging as much property, etc. Also little research is done on the results because these projects are very expensive. If whole cities were aloud to be flooded it would be very different for cities to function in everyday life of the citizens.
Suggestions for flood solutions were to direct flood water into pipes and use the pressure created to drive hydraulic systems to raise the house so no water damage occurs to the building. Utilizing the flood as an advantage is cleaver.
Also the more vegetation along flood planes the more water they are able to retain to lessen the damage of floods. It is not a solution however every little bit helps.
Education is key however, with the proper education people can learn to not settle in flood planes or areas prone to annual flooding. This way the areas of water can flood as they naturally do with not damage or harm caused to the human population.
Personal Reflection- From the article and video watched I noticed there are many different problems occurring with water. Whether we are drying out streams and wanting more water or we are getting too much water and wanting less, humans will always have different needs and wants and hope it will do exactly what they want. From the resilience perspective allowing for mild floods to occur is highly reasonable in my opinion. From these small floods people can learn how high on hills to build houses, how tall dikes should be, where to not build at all, etc. I use to live in St. Adolphe and my yard floods each year. From the 1997 flood my step dad learned how high the house should be on the hill and with the money he received for the damage to his old house he built one up a lot higher and now with each flood, the water no longer even comes close to the house. The yard and drive way still flood, however so does part of St. Mary's Rd so building a higher drive way is unreasonable unless the city rises the highway. My step dad also created valleys in his yard since he is right along the Red River to help detour the water as the yard floods away from the house. Also there are pretty much forests in his yard to help absorb water and lessen the damage caused by the flood. If cities would be aloud to flood they too would be able to learn and save their homes from the severe floods that no matter what precautions are taken, the flood will come in worse then ever and damage tons of properties. The more small floods occur, the better prepared they will be for the real thing. Climates are changing for the worse, so preparation is desperately needed. Also the senior water rights being bought by large companies is wonderful. People will learn to be more cautious with the water they have because everyone wants to make money for doing nothing. So by conserving it they help protect streams and the ecosystems they support but also they make money.
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| 5) Flood of 1997 at Legislative Building in Winnipeg, MB. |
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| 6) This kind of attitude is needed for annual floods. |
2) Kansas, Alison. Wordpress.com, "FLOATING HOUSES?." Last modified 2008. Accessed March 10, 2013. http://fivenonblondes.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/floating-houses/.
3) Unknown, . Bowcrest.com, "IJBURG." Last modified Unknown . Accessed March 10, 2013. http://www.bowcrest.com/dutch-barge-specialists/index.php/floating-homes/ijburg-2/.
4) TEDxRainier. "Rob Harmon: How the market can keep streams flowing." Talks/TEDX. Performed November 2010. TED. March 2011. Web, http://www.ted.com/talks/rob_harmon_how_the_market_can_keep_streams_flowing.html.
5) Strapagiel , Lauren. Huffingtonpost.ca, "Manitoba Flood Fight Begins With Ice-Breaking On Red River." Last modified 2013. Accessed March 10, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/20/manitoba-flood-2013-ice-breaking_n_2727760.html.
6) Strapagiel , Lauren. Huffingtonpost.ca, "Manitoba Flood Fight Begins With Ice-Breaking On Red River." Last modified 2013. Accessed March 10, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/20/manitoba-flood-2013-ice-breaking_n_2727760.html.
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