Flood Hazard Mapping and its
Utilization for Flood Disaster Mitigation
Tetsuya IKEDA
Public Works Research Institute (PWRI)
Tsukuba, Japan
Session “Flood control and mitigation measures”
International Workshop “Water and Disasters”
December 14, 2004
London, CANADAContents¾ About PWRI
¾ Floods in Japan¾ Flood hazard map and its effects¾ New training course on flood hazard mapping¾ Planning to establish a new center on waterrelated hazards

Public Works Research Institute(PWRI)• History••••

1922: Established
1979: Relocated to Tsukuba
2001: Re-organized into twoinstitutes (PWRI and NILIM)
Staff : 219 (including 151 researchers)
Land area: about 560,000m2
Number of research topics: 200
Budget (FY 2004): 6 bil. JPY (55 mil. US$)PWRI @ Tsukuba
Tokyo

Recent extreme floods- Tokai heavy rain (2000) Before flood

During flood

Affecting 580,000 people,and economic loss: US$ 8 billion

Floods in Japan this year
- Niigata Fukushima Rain (1) -Floods in Japan this year
- Niigata Fukushima Rain (2) •After flood(The temple waswashed away)•Before flood(An old temple in thecenter of the red circle)Flood characteristics of Japan¾ Destructive : An old temple was washed away…
¾ Flash floods : Limited time for evacuation, therefore
elderly and disabled people were drowned¾ Sedimentation & mud flows : Difficulty for recovery¾ Dense land use in flood-prone areas : Dilemma ofrecurrent flood disasters
Depth (m)Unsafe Zone

Safe Zone
Velocity (m/s)

More effective flood management¾ Structural measures are effective, however,- Costly in particular in developing countries- Needing long time to produce tangible effects- Constrained by land acquisition or available
resources¾ Much more important to take non-structural
measures such as:- Flood hazard map- Flood forecasting and early warning- Adequate land use and regulations…

Flood hazard map¾ Functions:- Providing inundation & evacuation information- Easily understandable and publicized throughjoint efforts with communities- Useful for local residents for early evacuation¾ Effects:- Mitigating damage by smooth evacuation- Raising people’s awareness and enhancing theircapability/ resilienceFlood hazard map: Example
Making residents prepared for flood risks byshowing flood risk information & evacuation guide.
(2) Evacuation
centers such as
schools andcommunity centers(3) Evacuation routes
free from barriers(1) Flooding risks(by simulations)Started in the late 90s in
Japan, already producedin over 300 municipalities

Effectiveness

Whether or not people saw the flood hazard map beforehand
makes big differences to the way they evacuate.
(Source: Assoc. Prof. Katada, Gunma University)

Flood mapping of the world¾ On-going flood mapping in the world:- USA: Flood Insurance Rate Map (NFIP)- Canada, UK, Sweden, Norway, Swiss…
¾ Examples in developing countries:- South Africa, Sri Lanka, Guatemala,Venezuela, Costa Rica, Bolivia and others…
¾ Initiatives by international organizations:- WMO/ UNESCAP Typhoon Committee- EU action plan/ flood initiative- CDERA, MRC…

Further prospects¾ After the preliminary survey on the ground…
- Investigating climatic-geographic conditions
Æ Considering local conditions/ situations- Considering socio-economic development stageÆ Link with development & disaster mitigation- Effective for adequate land use
Æ Toward improved planning & risk mitigation- Public involvement & community participation
Æ Develop people’s/ community’s self-reliancethrough raising awareness & enhancing capability

New training course onFlood Hazard Mapping
Objective¾ Acquire professional knowledge necessary toproduce flood hazard maps
¾ Enhance understanding of its effectiveness¾ Seek application in his/her own country
Framework¾ 5-year planning (JFY 2004-2008)¾ Annually 16 trainees from 8 countries of Asia
¾ Date: January 25 – February 19, 2005 (4 weeks)¾ Place: Tsukuba, Japan (PWRI & JICA)

Training course
DetailsCurriculum:¾ Lecture on mapping process and its effects¾ Introduction of good practices of the world¾ Field study in a nearby flood-prone area
¾ Site visit to advanced areas in mapping¾ Report and discussion
Lecturers:
Professors, Researchers and Experts from thegovernments, institutes and private sectors…

Benefits of training course
For trainees:- Acquisition of knowledge,experiences and skills- Communication withother trainees- Advocate in his/herown country- Promoter of furtheractions

For trainers:- Accumulation ofinformation- New indications and hints
through interaction withlecturers and trainees- Improvement of existing
practices- Stimulate for further
research- Follow-up /continual monitoring of implementation- Permanent networking for information exchangeFramework of the new Center
PWRI plans to contribute to mitigate water-related
disasters by establishing a new center in this field.
¾ A global center to be established within PWRI under
the auspices of UNESCO in autumn 2005
¾ Theme: Water hazard and risk management¾ Activities: Research, Training, Information networking¾ Partnership with UNESCOIHP Networks, UN agencies& other key organizations ofthe world

Pillar Activities

Research
Data/
Information

Curriculum
Results/
Outcomes

Participation

Knowledge

Information
networking

NetworkTraining& Capacity
building

Training Activities- PWRI’s experiences and plans ¾ Long experiences for over 35years, including
River & dam engineering,
Sabo engineering…
¾ Long- & short-term training
for experts/ practitioners(students & professionals
exchange, internship)¾ And planning a new training
course on Flood Hazard
MappingAfrica 1/1

Pacific 1/1

Latin America
10/5

Total Number ofTrainees/Countries
101/27 in FY 2003
Middle
East
32/7

Asia
57/13

Asia
229/21

Research Activities
Scientific & academic research on water-related
hazards & its risk management;¾ Contribution to major global initiatives(WWAP, UNESCO/WMO joint IFI/P…)¾ Hydraulic / hydrological prediction,observation, modeling and analysis (GFAS)¾ Risk assessment & management technologies
on water-related hazards and impacts ofclimate change… and others

Information Networking¾ Knowledge base & information network by:- Collecting, compiling & providing useful
information- Interacting with the UN, WWAP, IHP & otherinternational initiatives (IFNet, JWF…)¾ Synergies to research & training- Dissemination of research outcomes, andfeedbacks for further research- Development of linkage with trainees, andrecognition of local needsFuture milestones ofpreparatory works¾Development of pilot projects¾Active participation in thematic discussions forknowledge exchange and substantial contribution- Dec. 2004: Int’l Conf. Water & Disasters (CANADA)- Jan. 2005: World Conf. Disaster Reduction (JAPAN)- Apr. 2005: UN CSD-13 (New York, USA)
- And others (International & regional forums,academic & practical WS…)

¾Approval at the 33rd UNESCO General
Conference (Autumn 2005)

Thank you very muchfor your attention.
http://www.unesco.pwri.go.jp