How to reduce flood impacts?
The simplest and cheapest way to reduce the damaging effects of flooding is to identify and carefully manage flood-prone lands. Floodplain mapping has been undertaken along river reaches in many Canadian communities that are prone to damaging floods, based on, for example, a discharge with a 100-year recurrence interval. Land use and building construction are carefully regulated on low-lying areas susceptible to flooding. It is, therefore, common in many Canadian towns and cities to see parks, playing fields and natural areas situated on floodplains. These are types of land use compatible with periodic flooding because of the resulting minor consequences. There are urban areas in many Canadian towns and cities that encroach on flood-prone lands and have experienced flooding problems in the past. Commonly, these areas are now protected by flood-control structures and are generally unaffected by moderate to large floods. Common engineered flood-control measures are shown in Figures 11, 1
