Living with floods: Alternatives for riverine flood mitigation

Abstract Most efforts designed to reduce the effects of floods have focused on such structural measures as the construction of dams or embankments (polders, levees, etc). Many development experts question whether large-scale flood control projects are economically suitable for the least-developed countries, since they increase the country's debt significantly for little economic return. Interest has recently increased in alternative strategies for protecting the floodplains especially in rural areas. These strategies can often be adopted or modified into a national ‘living with floods’ strategy to encourage people to adapt to floods and to capture their benefits for economic development. Where this strategy has been applied it has been cost-effective, easy to implement and compatible with the environment. More important, it can be incorporated into long-term development programmes.