Methods of flood control

Causes of flooding

Torrential rain

Urbanisation increases surface run-off

Causes of flooding…Dam collapse

Tsunami caused by underwater earthquake

Snow melt

Causes of flooding….

Monsoon rain

Global warming

Deforestation

To control flooding…..1. Control the water level dams pumping stations2. Build barriers embankments flood walls3. Alter the river’s channel Straighten it Widen and deepen it4. Control land use around the river (land use

zoning)

1. To control the water level

Dam and pumping station

2.Build barriers

3. Alter the river’s channel

4. Control land use

Flood plain zoning

Emergency measures….

Mississippi, USA

Levee on the MississippiNote the school bus for scale and the seepage along the side of the levee.

The Mississippi River levee system represents one of the largest such systems found anywhere in the world. They comprise over 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of levees extending some 1,000 miles (1,600 km) along the Mississippi. They average 24 feet (7 m) in height; some Mississippi levees are as much as 50 feet (15 m) high.

River Nile, Egypt

The Aswan High Dam

Aswan dam

• Why was it built?

• What are the advantages?

• What are the disadvantages? What problems did it cause?

Your task:

Look at all the information provided about each of the rivers in the different countries and then write a report entitled “River Management: Choices and impacts”

Your report should include the following sections (although you may want to add more!):The causes of floodingThe alternative ways the rivers are managed (e.g. levees, dams, limiting the use of the flood plain, flood defences etc)Reasons why river management varies in different placesHow managing rivers can affect peopleWhy different people may have different points of view about river management (e.g. a local farmer, a politician, a local industry, a householder and a developer wanting to build new houses).Your opinions on managing rivers and how this affects people

Remember! The best reports will be structured and will have your own

additional research!Assessment criteria

Level Enquiry and Skills Places, Patterns and Processes

Environmental Change

3 Begin to use appropriate vocab-ulary; Respond to questions using structured tasks.

Recognise that places are similar and different.

Recognise how people try to improve environments;Recognise that there are different approaches to managing environments.

4 Explain your own views and recognise that other people may have different views;Use appropriate vocabulary.

Realise that MEDCs and LEDCs have different options available to them;Begin to understand how people can change the features of places;Begin to understand how physical processes (flooding) affects landscape and lives.

Understand that people can both improve and damage the environment;

5 Explain your own views and begin to explain the views of others;Suggest valid conclusions and use a range of geographical vocabulary.

Describe and begin to explain physical processes (flooding) and human processes (management);Describe how river management differs between LEDCs and MEDCs.

Recognise that people try to manage environments sustainably;Give explanations for ways in which river management changes the environment;Describe how river management can affect the lives of people.

6 Suggest relevant questions for the enquiry; use evidence to make valid conclusions.

Describe and explain physical processes (flooding and its causes) and human processes (eg management methods);Describe the links between physical and human processes.

Recognise that there are conflicting demands on the river and the surrounding land;Compare different approaches to managing the river and its environment.