Publications
The FHRC has produced over 40 years worth of publications related to natural hazards, and in particular to flood risk and water management. Publications include edited and authored books, peer-reviewed academic journal articles, reports for government departments (both in the UK and overseas), consultancy reports, conference proceedings, departmental working papers and monographs. A selection of our most recent publications are given below. For information on earlier publications please contact Lucy Caple.
The Benefits of Flood and Coastal Risk Management: A Handbook of Assessment Techniques-2010
In the last four decades, FHRC has produced four Manuals bringing together information on the impacts of flooding and coastal erosion. In 1977, the "Blue Manual" was the first document to provide guidance on appraising flood hazards in the UK, involving both damage to urban properties and the benefits of protecting agricultural land. This was followed by the "Red Manual" in 1987, which investigated in greater detail the indirect or secondary effects of floods, as well as updating material on industrial, commercial and retail flood damages. In 1992 we produced the "Yellow Manual" which focused on coastal erosion and flooding problems, and systematised the assessment of the "intangible" impacts of coastal erosion on beach recreation and other use values of the coast previously left as unquantifiable.
During 2001/04 we were tasked by DEFRA (the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, formerly MAFF) to update all this work and produced in 2005 the "Multi-Coloured Manual", the “Multi-Coloured Handbook” and the “Multicoloured CD”. This involved a major review of the use of the previous manuals, through surveys investigating strengths and weaknesses perceived by users in the consulting, engineering and flood defence community, and also a major update of damage data in the retail, commercial, industrial and residential sectors. A novel feature of this work was producing the data on a CD, so that users could find data they need more readily than has been previously the case.
In turn the Environment Agency commissioned FHRC in 2009/10 to update all this data, based on new research and the floods that occurred in 2007. In 2010 we produced the “Multi-Coloured Handbook - 2010” and the “Multicoloured CD - 2010”. Further fundamental updates and a web-based data interface will begin this year.
The Handbook and its accompanying CD have been produced by the Flood Hazard research Centre (FHRC) at Middlesex University, under the Modelling and Risk theme of the joint Defra and Environment Agency research and development programme. It draws on collaboration between the FHRC, Defra, the Environment Agency and other stakeholders.
The use of the Handbook and its data CD is recommended for benefit assessment as part of flood and coastal erosion risk management appraisal. The latest 2010 version of the Handbook provides users with:
- Easy access to the techniques and information needed to undertake evaluations of the benefits for most straightforward risk management projects (probably 75% to 85% of all cases);
- A greater opportunity to align the scale of the appraisal effort with the scale and scope of the decisions required
- Techniques that fully support sustainable development principles
Importantly, the handbook provides approaches to implement the policies set out in the HM Treasury ‘Green Book’ and complements the Flood and Coastal Erosion Management Appraisal Guidance (FCERM-AG), published by the Environment Agency in March 2010.
The Handbook also complements Defra’s making Space for Water principles and the Environment Agency’s increasing use of Multi-Criteria Analysis, as set out in its FCERM-AG advice.
The 2010 version represents the results of research and development effort to update the data and techniques in the previous 2005 version, but remains a companion volume to the Multi-Coloured Manual, which will be the subject of a more fundamental update this year.
To order a copy of the 2010 Handbook of Assessment Techniques, please complete the order form and either email or post to Lucy Caple.
You may also be interested in our course ‘Flood Management Benefits: A Better Appraisal in Less Time’. The course is delivered by the authors of the 2010 handbook and focuses on gathering, understanding and effectively using benefit appraisal data. This is also particularly useful for re-evaluating benefit appraisals. It has been specifically developed for Local Authority, Consultant and Environment Agency evaluators and appraisers who wish to develop and refine their approach. To register for this course please contact Lucy Caple.
Flood Risk Science and Management
Pender, Gareth / Faulkner, Hazel (eds.)
Flood Risk Science and Management
1. Edition - November 2010
ca. 162.- Euro
2010. 528 Pages, Hardcover
ISBN-10: 1-4051-8657-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-8657-5 - John Wiley & Sons
Detailed description
Approaches to avoid loss of life and limit disruption and damage from flooding have changed significantly in recent years. Worldwide, there has been a move from a strategy of flood defence to one of flood risk management. Flood risk management includes flood prevention using hard defences, where appropriate, but also requires that society learns to live with floods and that stakeholders living in flood prone areas develop coping strategies to increase their resilience to flood impacts when these occur. This change in approach represents a paradigm shift which stems from the realisation that continuing to strengthen and extend conventional flood defences is unsustainable economically, environmentally, and in terms of social equity. Flood risk management recognises that a sustainable approach must rest on integrated measures that reduce not only the probability of flooding, but also the consequences. This is essential as increases in the probability of inundation are inevitable in many areas of the world due to climate change, while socio-economic development will lead to spiralling increases in the consequences of flooding unless land use in floodplains is carefully planned.
Flood Risk Science and Management provides an extensive and comprehensive synthesis of current research in flood management; providing a multi-disciplinary reference text covering a wide range of flood management topics. Its targeted readership is the international research community (from research students through to senior staff) and flood management professionals, such as engineers, planners, government officials and those with flood management responsibility in the public sector. By using the concept of case study chapters, international coverage is given to the topic, ensuring a world-wide relevance.
You can now order your copy of Flood Risk Science and Management from the Wiley-VCH website.
