Manage the Flood
How towns are protected from river flooding: hard engineering like dams, embankments and flood relief channels, soft engineering like flood warnings, planning and river restoration, and how to weigh the cost against the benefit.
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Free interactive practice at using the material, which is what the marks are for.
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Holding back the river
When a river floods it can wreck homes and businesses, so towns try to manage the risk. Some build strong structures to hold or divert the water; others work with nature by warning people and controlling where they build. At Banbury, an embankment and a flood storage area protect the town from the River Cherwell. This module works through hard and soft engineering, and how to judge which is worth it.
Flood words to know
Learn these before you defend a town.
Hard against soft engineering
The two approaches manage a flood in very different ways.
Match the scheme, weigh the cost
In the exam, match the flood scheme to the place and weigh its cost against its benefit. Hard engineering puts in strong structures such as dams, raised banks and relief channels that hold back or divert the water, but they cost a lot and can spoil the river. Soft engineering works with nature instead: warning residents, steering new building away from the floodplain, and letting the river reconnect with its natural course, which is cheaper but less certain. Name a real scheme, say what it protects, and judge whether it is worth it.
Match the term
- flood management
- hard engineering
- soft engineering
- flood relief channel
- protecting an area from river flooding
- solid built structures that control the river
- working with nature and planning
- a spare channel that takes flood water off
Match the method
- a dam and reservoir
- an embankment
- a flood warning
- river restoration
- hard engineering that stores water
- a raised bank that holds the river in
- soft engineering that tells people in time
- returning a river to a natural state
Which is soft engineering?
Which of these is a soft-engineering method of flood management?
- A flood warning system
- A concrete dam
- An embankment
- A flood relief channel
True about flood management
Select the TWO true statements about managing river floods.
- A dam and reservoir is a hard-engineering method
- Flood warnings give people time to prepare
- Soft engineering uses large concrete structures
- Hard engineering is always the cheapest option
Cost the relief channel
In one plan a flood relief channel costs 3000 pounds for each metre, and the town needs 5 metres of it. Multiply the cost per metre by the length to find the cost in pounds. What is the answer?
Order the decision
Put the steps of deciding how to manage a flood in order, earliest first.
- Work out which areas are most at risk of flooding
- Decide how valuable the land and property are
- Choose hard or soft engineering to suit
- Weigh the cost against the benefit
Complete the rules
Protecting an area from river flooding is flood _____. Solid built structures like dams are _____ engineering. Working with nature and planning is _____ engineering. An extra channel that carries away flood water is a flood relief _____.
Spot the hard engineering
Tap the TWO hard-engineering flood methods.
- a dam and reservoir
- an embankment along the river
- a flood warning sent by text message
- zoning land so houses avoid the floodplain
Name the management
Read each real case and name the kind of management.
- At Banbury, a large earth embankment and a flood storage area hold back the River Cherwell. What kind of management is this?
- A council sends flood warnings to phones and stops new houses being built on the floodplain. What kind of management is this?
- Why might a town choose cheaper soft engineering over hard engineering?
Explain flood management
Explain how a river flood can be managed and how to judge which method is best.
- Explain hard engineering with an example
- Explain soft engineering with an example
- Explain how cost and the value of the land affect the choice