Local government, civil protection authorities and civil engineers from research institutions and SME’s collaborate for an improved flood risk management in Benaguasil (Spain).
The SUFRI project (Sustainable Strategies of Urban Flood Risk Management with non-structural measures to cope with the residual risk, 2nd CRUE ERA-Net Funding Initiative) was developed within the period 2009-2011 with the aim of improving flood risk management especially by using non-structural measures for risk reduction such as advanced warning systems, risk analysis and communication to optimize emergency management.
Among other project outcomes and findings (e.g. a method for investigation of risk awareness, compilation of advanced warning systems, etc.), a methodology was developed to provide a complete and quantitative tool for flood risk analysis in urban areas by integrating pluvial and river flooding. This methodology focused on the use of risk models and F-N curves (where F denotes the annual exceedance probability for each level of potential consequences, e.g., the number of potential fatalities, N). Both, risk models and F-N curves, are highly applicable and flexible techniques to identify, characterize, represent and analyze flood risk in any urban area.
Five case studies among Europe were chosen to analyze existent flood risk and the impact of non-structural measures for flood risk reduction. One of these sites was the city of Benaguasil, located in the Valencian Region of Spain. Results and conclusions from risk analysis for Benaguasil were used to inform local authorities and provide guidance towards an improved flood risk management.
Based on the potential of non-structural measures on risk reduction, Benaguasil local government decided to develop a Municipal Action Plan against Flood Risk in collaboration with Polytechnic University of Valencia (Universitat Politècnica de València, UPV), PMEnginyeria (a Valencia based SME) and iPresas (UPV Spin-off company). This Plan, approved in July 2012, contains outcomes of carried out flood risk analyses, flood risk maps, organizational schemes, procedures and communication chains, etc., along with other aspects for an efficient flood emergency management.
This Plan is the first Municipal Action Plan against Flood Risk in its region that has been developed under the most recent regional regulation on flood risk, published in 2010 after national transposition of the EU Floods Directive. It has been presented in several forums (e.g. last 25th September, during a workshop organized by the Spanish Institution of Civil Engineers) and it may be used as an example of flood emergency planning for other cities in Spain and Europe.
Sara Perales-Momparler CEng, ICE Member in Spain, I. Escuder-Bueno, Prof. Dr. & iPresas Founding Partner at Universitat Politècnica de València & iPresas, and J.T. Castillo-Rodríguez, PhD Student at the Research Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA) at the Universitat Politècnica de València all contribute to this research.
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