Author(s): Kamran Mi; S. A. Chavoshian
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Holistic approach; Flood management; Non-structural approaches
Abstract: As dawn breaks on the 21st century, humanity is confronted with three fundamental problems that are interrelated in a complex system: water crisis, sustainable development and flood mitigation. Solutions of these problems will above all need a holistic approach emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence and interactions of its parts. In 1990’s, the non-structural approaches to flood management were established in many countries and integration of structural and nonstructural approaches has been increasingly used. The benefits derived from this trend in flood management are found to be immense. This is supported by a case study of the Sistan province in southeast Iran. The history of floods and droughts in the Sistan plain extends to hundreds of years ago. During the past fifty years, major floods have occurred in 1957,1982 and1991 with tens of millions of dollars in total damage and unimaginable human suffering. The droughts for their part have prevented the development of this impoverished province. For example, the notable drought of 1971 was so severe that 70 percent of the population were forced to emigrate to other provinces. Chahnime off-channel reservoirs, constructed in 1980, effectively prevented a similar disaster during 1984-1986 droughts. After the floods of 1991, two alternatives were proposed for flood mitigation of the Sistan plain. The first one was an option of flood control through huge levee construction. The alternative scheme was based on holistic approach and called for addressing drought and flood problems by construction of more reservoirs and diverting the flood peak into the reservoirs by using nonstructural approaches. The scheme would have resulted in enormous saving and reduced construction time, nonetheless, financed by the world bank, the flood control levees was constructed after 7 years. When the worst drought in the history of the region began in 2000 and extended for 3years, it became apparent what the region needed most were more reservoirs and holistic thinking.
Year: 2002