Climate change is expected to affect flooding through changes in rainfall, temperature, sea level and river processes. Climate change will exacerbate the existing effects of flooding on infrastructure and community services, including roads, stormwater and wastewater systems and drainage, river flood mitigation works, and private and public assets including houses, businesses and schools.
Climate change may change flood risk management priorities and may even increase the risk from flooding to unacceptable levels in some places. It is therefore important that your flood risk assessments incorporate an understanding of the impacts of climate change on the flood hazard.
Managing present-day and future risk from flooding involves a combination of risk-avoidance and risk-reduction activities. The treatment options could be a combination of avoiding risk where possible, controlling risk through structural or regulatory measures, transferring risk through insurance, accepting risk, emergency management planning, warning systems, and communicating risk (including residual risk) to affected parties. The best combination will consider the needs of future generations and not lock communities into a future of increasing risks from flooding.
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Conclusion
May 2010
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