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An Integrated Planning Framework for Managing Flood-
endangered Regions in the Yangtze River Basin
Jun Xia a , Guo H. Huang b , Zhi Chen b & Xiang Rong b
a IWRA, Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy
of Sciences, Beijing, and Wuhan University , Wuhan, China
b Faculty of Engineering, University of Regina , Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Published online: 19 Oct 2010.
To cite this article: Jun Xia , Guo H. Huang , Zhi Chen & Xiang Rong (2001) An Integrated Planning Framework for Managing
Flood-endangered Regions in the Yangtze River Basin, Water International, 26:2, 153-161, DOI: 10.1080/02508060108686900
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International Water Resources Association
Water International, Volume 26, Number 2, Pages 153–161, June 2001
An Integrated Planning Framework for Managing
Flood-endangered Regions in the Yangtze River Basin
Jun Xia, Member IWRA, Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resources
Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, and Wuhan University, Wuhan, China,
Guo H. Huang, Zhi Chen, and Xiang Rong, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Abstract: This paper presents an integrated sustainable development decision support system
(ISDDSS) for the management of flood-endangered regions in China. The ISDDSS is based on compre-
hensive analyses of the previous flooding events in China, especially the one that occurred in the
Yangtze River Basin in 1998. A large number of conditions including the hydrological features and the
economic losses resulting from flooding disasters are addressed. Due to the frequent floods in the Yangtze
River Basin, the management of flood-endangered regions in the middle stream area has become one of
the most important water-related issues in China. This is mainly because of such factors as the regions’
high population density, flat alluvial plain, far-flung farmlands, and strong economic potentials. The
flood-endangered regions are greatly vulnerable to flooding in rainy season due to the flat terrain and
their direct connections with surface rivers and lakes. Moreover, they were often chosen to retain
floodwater in order to protect major cities in the Yangtze River Basin. The ISDDSS is proposed to prevent
flooding disasters, to minimize flood damages, and to promote sustainable development in such regions.
Keywords: Decision support, flood-endangered region, flood control, model, sustainability, water
resources.
Previously, flood-control related studies have been
Introduction
widely reported. For example, Jin (1999) proposed a
Along with its economic development and population method to monitor flooding in China using remote sensing
growth, China is facing a series of challenges arising from tools. Power and Niemi (1998) evaluated a number of
water issues such as flooding disasters and drought (Qian, flood control alternatives in the Vermillion River Basin,
1992; Chen, 1994, 1995, and 1996; Chen and Xia, 1999). South Dakota. Haeuber and Michener (1998) investigated
In the past decade, a number of disastrous flooding events methods to control flooding in a natural way. However,
occurred in China, leading to approximately US$100 bil- there has been lack of considerations on sustainable de-
lion in economic losses (Zhang et al., 1997). In 1991, flooding velopment of flood-endangered areas, which has been re-
along the Huaihe, Yangtze, and Songhuajiang rivers led to garded as a crucial issue in China (Huang, 1999; Chen and
a total direct economic loss of US$10 billion. In 1994, flood- Xia, 1999). The studies proposed by Hersh (1998) and
ing along the Zhujiang, Xiangjiang, and Liaohe rivers re- Churchill and Baetz (1999), pertaining to the development
sulted in a direct loss of US$20 billion. In 1995, flooding of decision support tools for sustainable development, may
along Dongting Lake, Boyang Lake, and the Second- have advantages in providing meaningful extension of the
Songhuajiang River resulted in a direct loss of US$21 bil- current flood control and management efforts.
lion. In 1998, the direct economic losses from several
This paper focuses on the major flooding disaster,
flooding disasters were over US$31 billion, accounting for which occurred in the Yangtze River Basin of China in
50 percent of the China’s yearly GNP growth in that year. 1998. The barriers to the sustainable management of flood-
The shocking fact is that no extremely high runoff has endangered regions are also discussed. Because of the
occurred in the past decade according to statistical data. complex nature of the interrelations among different com-
Although many factors were related to these unusual flood- ponents of the flood-control planning process, a decision
ing disasters, human activities such as deforestation, land support system (DSS) called integrated sustainable de-
reclamation, and resources over-exploitation can lead to velopment decision support system (ISDDSS) is pro-
soil-erosion problems and reduced flood-retaining capaci- posed as a framework for the development of effective
ties. Flood control planning and management in the chang- management plans. This interactive computer-aided sys-
ing world is thus a main challenge in China.
tem can be developed to create, run, save, and analyze
153

154
J. Xia, G.H. Huang, Z. Chen, and X. Rong
the related modeling results under projected scenarios for
regional development (Simonovic, 1996). The DSS helps
users to assess geological conditions and natural hazards,
and provides extensive technical bases and supports for
decisions related to sustainable management of flood-
threatened or affected areas. The study contributes to new
methodologies for flood management, with an emphasis
on: (1) uncovering the complexities of and reasons for a
variety of contradictions and conflicts existing in the flood-
endangered regions, including factitious and natural fac-
tors; (2) systematically integrating the proposed approaches
within a general framework in order to provide a compre-
hensive decision-support tool for directly conducting sce-
nario analyses; this should lead to desired alternatives for
resolving various contradictions and conflicts in flood-en-
dangered regions; and (3) providing re-education and train-
ing for decision makers and the public on the importance
of the sustainability in the flood-endangered regions.
A number of models, tools, and approaches are con-
sidered under a general framework, which can be used to:
(1) develop a supporting system for long-term regional
socio-economic development and flood-prevention plan-
ning; (2) provide effective management on population
mobilization and disaster reduction during the flooding pe-
riod; and (3) conduct optimal planning on the rehabilitation
of flooded areas. The DSS will be applied to the flood-
endangered regions in the Yangtze River Basin.
Figure 1. The Yangtze River basin in China.
from June to September in 1998. This flood has broken
many historical records. It was characterized by extended
periods of heavy rainstorms, high flooding stages, and enor-
mous flood damages, as described in detail below.
The Heavy Rainstorms Covering a Large Area
Within a Long Period
Since entering the monsoon season on June 11, 1998,
heavy rainstorms were frequent in the Yangtze River Ba-
sin. If the daily rainfall in a rainstorm-covered region is
over 50 mm, then this day is named a rainstorm day (RD).
Table 1 shows a total of 74 RDs during a span of 82 days
from June to August 1998. The number of days with daily
rainfall in excess of 100 mm totaled 64, and that in excess of
200 mm was 18 days. Thus, only eight days out of the 82
days from June 11 to August 31 were without rainstorm
events.
The heavy rainfalls during the flooding period covered
a vast area. In regions around the Boyang Lake and the
Dongting Lake, for instance, the total rainstorm area with
daily rainfalls over 50 mm reached 150,000 km on June
23, 1998. On June 13, the area of heavy rainstorm over
2
100 mm was about 51,000 km . Moreover, the intensity of
Major Flooding Disasters
in the Yangtze River Basin
The Yangtze River (also called the Changjiang River)
originates from Mountain Tanggula in the Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau and meanders over a distance of 6,300 km. It is
the largest river in China (Figure 1). The Yangtze River
flows across China’s mainland from the west to the east,
and discharges its water into the Pacific Ocean with a
2
3
yearly flow of 10,000 billion m . The river basin has 3,600
2
tributaries with a total drainage area of 1.8 million km .
the rains during the flooding period was very high. For
example, the precipitation over Wuhan City within 48 hours
on July 20 and 21, 1998, reached 457 mm, with a maxi-
mum intensity of 95 mm/hr. In the Yuanshui Watershed of
the Dongting Lake region, accumulated rainfall in three
days from July 20 to 22 was over 655 mm, with all three
days having daily rainfalls over 100 mm.
The Yangtze River Basin is a densely populated and eco-
nomically prosperous area of China, with many large cit-
ies such as Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai.
However, as a freely flowing river, it may naturally bring
floods. Historically, several great flooding disasters along
the Yangtze caused tremendous damages to human lives
and properties. During the past 2,100 years, from the be-
ginning of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. to A.D. 220) to the
end of the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911), there were a
total of 214 flooding events, with an average frequency of
once every ten years. In the early 20th century, five se-
vere floods occurred in the Yangtze. The great flood in
1931 drowned 145,000 people and inundated 1.8 million
houses. The biggest flood struck in 1954. It claimed 20,000
lives, inundated 3.2 million hectares of cultivated land, and
made more than 18 million people homeless. A major flood-
ing disaster occurred again in the Yangtze River Basin
Table 1. Rainstorm Days Occurred in the Yangtze River
from June 11 to August 31 of 1998
Date During
June
July
August
Total
P > 50 mm
P > 100 mm
P > 200 mm
19 d
17 d
6 d
30 d
26 d
8 d
25 d
24 d
4 d
74 d
64 d
18 d
P - Daily rainfall amount in a rainstorm region in the Yangtze.
IWRA, Water International, Volume 26, Number 2, June 2001

An Integrated Planning Framework for Managing
Flood-endangered Regions in the Yangtze River Basin
155
The High Flooding Stages
The flood in 1998 ranks the second largest in the
Yangtze River basin’s history, next to the one in 1954. Sta-
tistics in the highest flooding stages, the maximal discharge
and the number of days with water levels exceeding the
warning line for the 1954 and 1998 floods are given in
Table 2, demonstrating the remarkable magnitude of the
1998 flood.
Enormous Flood Damages
Flood has tremendously hindered the sustainable de-
velopment of the Yangtze River Basin. In 1998, flooding
along the Yangtze River caused losses of at least US$ 2.6
billion. The disaster claimed between 2,000 and 4,000 lives
Figure 2. A flooded area of middle stream of the Yangtze river in
1998.
and affected more than 223 million people, one-fifth of the direct connections with rivers and lakes, the flood-endan-
country’s population. Over 14 million people were evacu- gered regions are very vulnerable to flooding in rainy sea-
ated, 17 million homes destroyed, and 21.3 million acres of son. Moreover, they often must carry the burden of
farmland flooded (Figure 2) [Huang, 1999]. Table 3 lists retaining floodwater in order to protect some major cities.
the major indicators for socio-economic losses as a result
of the 1998 flood. It indicates that great floods are the with a population of 1.48 million and an area of 436.7 km
For example, the Dongting flood-endangered region
2
2
most significant disaster to China’s national economy in (with 231.3 km of farmland) was burdened by about 163.8
3
the long run. When battling the disastrous flood, it was billion m of floodwater in order to ensure the safety of
discovered that the most difficult decisions were associ- Wuhan City in 1998 (Huang, 1999). As the flooding could
ated with the flood-endangered regions. These regions are happen every few years and the flood-endangered regions
located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River where need systematic management, it has become an important
the heaviest damages occurred. Accordingly, they are the issue to protect these regions from flooding disaster and
most critical areas for battling the flooding disaster with to ensure regional sustainable development. Therefore, the
all sorts of problems, difficulties, and complexities. There- following crucial questions need to be answered:
fore, flood control and management decisions in those re-
gions are extremely challenging and must be addressed by
a systematic and quantitative approach.
•
How can we resolve conflicts and identify tradeoffs
between regional planning for sustainable development
and the special function for preventing or reducing flood
damage?
How can we provide technical bases or tools for deci-
sion-makers to plan for the region’s development?
How can we minimize the damage of properties and
the loss of lives during the flooding period?
What is the desired economic development model suit-
able for such regions?
Barriers to the Management
of Flood-endangered Regions
•
•
•
The flood-endangered regions in the Yangtze River
Basin are characterized by extensive locations in flooded
alluvial plains, vast farmlands with fertile soils, active eco-
nomic and industrial activities, and effective transporta-
tion networks. Because of their flat topography and their
Table 2. Comparison of the 1998 Floods with the 1954 Floods on the Highest Flood Level (H
and the Maximum Discharge (Q ) in the Yangtze River Basin
)
max
max
Duration over the Warning Water
Stage (days)
Station Names
1998 Floods
1954 Floods
H
Q
H
Q
H
warning
1998
1954
max
max
max
max
(m)(m
3/s)(m) (m
3/s)(m) Floods
Floods
Yichang
Zhichen
Shashi
54.50
50.62
45.22
38.31
34.95
29.43
23.03
16.32
63,300
68,800
53,700
46,300
67,800
71,100
73,100
82,300
55.73
50.61
44.67
36.57
33.17
29.73
22.08
16.64
66,800
71,900
50,000
36,500
78,800
76,100
73,000
92,600
52.0
44
31
57
82
81
84
94
83
38
19
34
64
49.0
43.0
34.5
31.5
26.3
19.5
14.5
Jianli
Luoshan
Wuhan
Jiujiang
Datong
72
100
116
107
IWRA, Water International, Volume 26, Number 2, June 2001

156
J. Xia, G.H. Huang, Z. Chen, and X. Rong
Table 3. Social-economic Loss Due to 1998
Major Flooding Disaster in Hubei, China
Approaches for Sustainable
Flood Prevention and Control
Items Loss
The proposed study of the flood-endangered region in
the Yangtze River Basin will integrate flood prevention,
disaster reduction, ecological protection, and economic de-
velopment within a general framework. The formulation
of the long-term planning of economic development, the
management of flooding impacts, and the reconstruction/
rehabilitation of flooded areas will be examined based on
the following four aspects: sustainable development, eco-
logical quality, macroscopic impacts, and changing natural
and social systems.
A number of modeling tools covering hydrology, ecol-
ogy, sociology, economics, and interdisciplinary subjects
will be employed or developed. In particular, the proposed
models will be integrated under a general framework for
systematic management. The detailed components of the
framework are presented in Figure 3.
Stricken counties/cities
Affected persons
Fatalities
66
36.88 million
345
Wounded/disease persons
Stricken farmland areas (hectare)
Lost grain production (kg)
Direct economic loss (US$)
8.9 million
381 million
4.9 billion
5.9 billion
These problems have been carefully considered in this
study, with the details specified as follows:
•
Human activities including industrial and agricultural
activities have affected the flood-endangered regions
significantly. The sediment deposited heavily at the
bottom of the Yangtze River is in part due to soil losses.
The capacity for retaining floodwater in those regions
is also decreasing. These have led to ever-increasing
losses and damages during the flooding season. The
public may be under the threat of a serious disaster
even the river flow is not very high.
There are a few drawbacks in the current flood-con-
trol planning strategy. It is not adaptable to changes of
the environment due to lack of consideration of eco-
logical and socio-economic effects. In addition, there
has been no systematic consideration of safety issues
in the development of flood-endangered regions, as
reflected by the following:
Modeling of Interactions Among Environmental
and Socio-economic Sub-systems in Flood-
endangered Regions
This will include modeling of the effects associated
with natural dynamics and human activities as well as their
interactions.
•
In terms of natural dynamics, the following need to be
quantified:
•
•
•
The natural changes of landform and terrain in river
basins
Impacts of climate change on the flooding phenomena
and the related disaster factors
Transport of sediments in the Yangtze River Basin and
the resulting effects on riverbeds
Flooding impacts on ecosystems
Relationships between epidemic diseases and flooding
disasters
(1) The local engineering infrastructure cannot satisfy
the demand of retaining the floodwater.
(2) There is no scientific support for the current pro-
cess of decision making.
(3) There is no well-established policy for flooding
loss compensation, which brings difficulties in
the evacuation activities and may result in more
damages.
•
•
In terms of human activities, the model is intended to
quantify:
•
Currently, the mid- and long-term planning for regional
economic development and integrated consideration of
environmental impacts, flood control, and their interac-
tions need to be improved. The management system
also lacks sound technical support because no efficient
tools have been developed for providing a technical
basis.
•
Impacts of agricultural activities on river and lake ba-
sins
Impacts of land use variations
Relationships between the construction of flood pre-
vention systems and its effects on disaster reduction
Impacts of population and economic policies
Impacts of human cultural activities and local adminis-
trative structures
•
•
•
•
With these problems taken into account, the sustain-
able development of the flood-endangered regions is a tai-
lor-made case for systematic study of economic
development and flood control in flood-endangered regions.
A detailed outline of such a study to be conducted in China
is described in the following sections.
•
Effects of disaster compensation mechanisms
The integrated modeling efforts would include the fol-
lowing studies:
IWRA, Water International, Volume 26, Number 2, June 2001

An Integrated Planning Framework for Managing
Flood-endangered Regions in the Yangtze River Basin
157
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Figure 3. Conceptual framework of DSS for the sustainable development of flooding-endangered regions.
•
•
Socio-economic, ecological and environmental conse- The details are specified as follows:
quences (positive and/or negative) of different preven-
tion and control activities
Overall sustainability of the development in flood-en-
dangered regions
•
From a hydrological point of view, this study will de-
velop a numerical hydrological model for distributed
river basin systems based on region-specific charac-
teristics. This model will be integrated with GIS and
remote sensing (RS) tools to quantitatively and graphi-
cally address the affluxion relationships among varia-
tions in land use, impacts of climate change, and
dynamics of regional hydrological conditions. Another
important issue is the impact (negative or positive) from
major hydraulic engineering projects such as the Three
Gorges Dam.
A number of innovative studies need to be undertaken,
including simulation models for forecasting various flood-
related activities, assessment models for quantifying risks
of flooding disasters, optimization models for providing
basis for decisions of short-term flood control and long-
term flood prevention, and a series of computer-aided tools
for information acquisition, management, and presentation.
IWRA, Water International, Volume 26, Number 2, June 2001

158
J. Xia, G.H. Huang, Z. Chen, and X. Rong
•
From a sediment transport point of view, a two-dimen- is to ensure the sustainability of the flood-endangered re-
sional dynamic sediment transport model will be devel- gions. An integrated optimization model under a multi-ob-
oped. It consists of a river sediment transport module, jective framework will be developed by incorporating a
a lake sediment transport module, and a distributed river variety of proposed tools with a core target of sustainability
sediment transport module. By coupling them together, and safety in the flood-endangered regions.
the dynamic flow-sediment relationship for the river-
lake distributed systems in the middle reaches of the Decision Support Tools for Long-term Planning of
Yangtze River can be elucidated. The evolution of ri- Economic Development and Flood Prevention
verbed, the mechanism of sediment flushing, and the
impacts of human activities will be modeled.
From an ecosystem point of view, a distributed eco-
Economic Model
The development of the economic model will maxi-
•
•
logical model will be developed for the flooding basins. mize the overall production of agriculture, industry, fish-
This model will be able to quantify: (1) the impacts of ery, and other economic activities with minimized economic
natural changes in ecological structure, sediment depo- losses in flooding seasons. The key issue is the identifica-
sition, and epidemic diseases; and (2) the impacts of tion of suitable economic models that reflect the local is-
human activities, such as urbanization, agricultural sues such as fertile farmland, active fishery, and convenient
works, and artificial infrastructure.
From an integrated modeling point of view, an inte- desired plans for land uses and flood-prevention activities.
grated model will be developed to quantify macroeco-
transportation system. The planning results will lead to
nomic effects and system sustainability. This model will
be capable of reflecting interactions among environ-
Ecological Model
The development of the ecological model is intended
mental and socio-economic sub-systems and the re- to protect local ecosystems and to conduct remediation
sulting effects. Therefore, the positive and negative after a flooding disaster. Concepts of ecological model and
effects of population and economic policies on the so- optimization model will be combined to support planning
ciety, economy, and environment in different periods for reducing sediment deposition, returning over-used farm-
will be quantified. The model will support decisions for lands, and maintaining a desired land-coverage ratio of
sustainable development of flood-endangered regions. forest/crop during non-flooding seasons. Also, the model
From a decision support point of view, not only simula- contains functions related to the recovery of flooded eco-
tion models but also risk analysis methods will be de- systems and damaged river and lake beds.
veloped for supporting decisions under uncertainty.
•
Methods of stochastic risk assessment, fuzzy system
analysis, and scenario analysis will be developed. They
Sociological Model
The development of the sociological model will pro-
will be selected to deal with real-world problems under vide a basis for identifying the requirements associated
different conditions with various uncertainties being with such important issues as population control, economic
quantified. The proposed models and tools will be ap- development, land use planning, and emergency-response
plied to flood risk analysis, engineering risk analysis, mechanisms. Given limited resources and complicated
disaster analysis, economic analysis, and real-time flood-related issues, many conflicts may exist in the study
floodwater diversion analysis.
system. The sociological model will provide support for
•
From a training point of view, a variety of methods clarifying these complexities.
including workshops, national and international confer-
ences, and environmental education at various levels Development of Effective Emergency-response
will be used to get decision makers, stakeholders and Systems
the public involved. Issues regarding importance of
The systems planning and emergency-response mod-
regional sustainability, effects of climate change, and els will be useful in supporting efficient and quick responses
impacts of human activities will be highlighted. In ad- during flooding periods. This will help avoid serious losses
dition to the potential socio-economic benefits to the of human lives and properties. In detail, an emergency-
public, a large number of professionals and innovative response model will consist of the following components:
leaders will emerge through the education programs.
•
Emergency personnel mobilization system (including
the pre-warning and prediction of flooding, the safety
consideration of allocated sanctuaries, and the related
providence for required equipment and set up of nec-
essary agencies).
Development of Decision Support Tools
Development of the aforementioned management tools
is intended to resolve the conflicts and contradictions be-
tween the development of flood-endangered regions and
the potentially frequent flooding disasters, so as to provide
decision support for the planning of these regions under
complex and difficult conditions. Therefore, the key issue
•
Sanitary, anti-epidemic, and safety system in flooding
period (including the engineering construction of tem-
porary sanctuaries, the emergency medical system, the
IWRA, Water International, Volume 26, Number 2, June 2001

An Integrated Planning Framework for Managing
Flood-endangered Regions in the Yangtze River Basin
159
temporary organizations for medical or rescue needs, the requirements of different users at different levels.
and the prevention and treatment of epidemic diseases).
Safety education and training system (including mobili-
•
Concluding Remarks
zation under emergency, provision of first-aid help to
injured people, prevention of epidemic diseases, and
self-protection).
Flooding is the most significant natural disaster that
injures China’s economic development. This is perhaps
one of the important reasons why both water ecosystem
protection and infrastructure development (e.g., the Three
Gorges Dam Project) have to be given so much attention
Decision Support for Mitigating Socio-economic
Damages
Decision support for the reconstruction of flood-dam- in the country. The special geographic location of the
aged areas will be provided. They include: (1) evaluation Yangtze River Basin with a high frequency of heavy rain-
of economic losses and damages; (2) assessment of envi- fall events could easily result in a flooding disaster. On the
ronmental and economic impacts; (3) cost accounting; (4) other hand, human activities are another set of important
public involvement; and (5) planning of recovery and re- causes that lead to increased flooding risks. For instance,
construction activities.
the flood-retaining capacity of the Dongting Lake, which
is connected with the Yangtze River, has decreased sig-
nificantly during the past 40 years due to a number of land
reclamation projects. Moreover, soil erosion and sediment
Decision Support for Sustainable Development in
Flood-endangered Regions
A computer-aided decision support system (DSS) will accumulation in the river are other causes that contribute
be developed. It contains databases, a graphics library, significantly to the intensified flooding events. They are
and a model library. It can process various kinds of infor- attributed to ecological deterioration in the middle and up-
mation related to regional development and flood preven- per reaches of the Yangtze River.
tion, using a variety of embedded models and objective-
China’s annual flooding losses are considerable and it
oriented management tools. This leads to human-machine appears that they will continue to rise in the 21st century.
interactive DSS, as shown in Figure 4. The system mainly Given the challenges of flood prevention and management,
includes: (1) distributed databases (hydrological, climate, the most important technical issue is to improve the knowl-
sediment, and socio-economic); (2) simulators (hydrologi- edge of the system’s hydrological processes. They include
cal, sediment, economic, ecological, planning, decision modeling land phase of hydrological cycles at both catch-
analysis, and risk); and (3) user interfaces (graphics, tables, ment and regional scales, initiation of applicable hydro-
and questions).
logical information systems, development of hydrological
modeling methodologies, and establishment of viable flood
control and hazard mitigation mechanisms. Based on the
GIS- and RS-supported Interfaces
In order to effectively manage spatial information and above considerations, the following questions can be an-
to present modeling inputs and outputs graphically, GIS swered: “Why does the flooding disasters occur so fre-
and remote sensing (RS) techniques would be integrated quently?” “Why have flood damages become increasingly
within the general DSS framework. Moreover, internet serious?” “What are the potential solutions?” Four main
technologies would be employed to develop distributed da- reasons for the frequent occurrence of flooding disasters
tabase systems, advanced graphic user interfaces (GUI), in China are highlighted as follows:
and user-friendly interactive systems in order to satisfy
•
•
•
Unfavorable geophysical-geographical conditions are
responsible for the frequent occurrence of flooding di-
sasters.
The shriveling up of rivers and lakes led to greatly de-
creased floodwater retaining capacity and thus a raised
flood stage.
For most of the watershed in the basin, the flood con-
trol standards are too low despite considerable upgrades
over the last decades. They can only be used for han-
dling normal floods but not risky ones.
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The intensive human activities and great variations in
the natural water environment have been significantly
affected and, therefore, changed the normal patterns
of the floods.
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An integrated sustainable development decision sup-
port system (ISDDSS) has been proposed for effective
Figure 4. Operational diagram of the decision support system.
IWRA, Water International, Volume 26, Number 2, June 2001

160
J. Xia, G.H. Huang, Z. Chen, and X. Rong
management of the flood-endangered regions. The international projects related to water resources and envi-
ISDDSS is a sophisticated tool with GIS- and RS-sup- ronmental management.
ported user-friendly interfaces through which users or
decision makers could effectively predict flooding events,
manage flood-endangered regions, undertake recovery/
reconstruction plans, and identify desired schemes for re-
gional development. Specifically, the ISDDSS would pro-
vide: (1) supporting information for decision makers to gain
in sight of system dynamics, real-time status, flooding dam-
ages, and risk levels; (2) technical analyses of historical
records of floods and their distributions, as well as eco-
nomic losses under different management scenarios; and
Dr. Zhi Chen is an assistant pro-
fessor in the Faculty of Engineering
at the University of Regina, Regina,
Saskatchewan, Canada S4S 0A2. His
research interests include environ-
mental modeling, risk assessment, in-
dustrial waste management, and
sustainable development. Dr. Chen
has authored and co-authored more
than 39 papers published in scientific
(3) case studies that focus on urgent and/or risky events, and engineering journals and conference proceedings. He
where socio-economic and environmental consequences holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Uni-
under different decision alternatives would be evaluated. versity of Regina, and is a member of several professional
societies and associations. Email: chenzh@uregina.ca.
Mr. Xiang Rong received his
B.Sc. in chemistry in 1983 from
Acknowledgement
This research has been supported by the Canadian
International Development Agency, the Hundred Talents
Program of CAS, the Natural Science Foundation of China
(49971017), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada.
Zhongshan University, Guangzhou,
China. He worked as an editor at In-
ternational Academic Publishers,
Beijing, China between 1987 and
1992. Mr. Rong completed his M.Sc.
in environmental technology and
management from the Asian Institute
of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand
About the Authors
Dr. Jun Xia is a Professor of in 1994. He worked as an environmental scientist at Con-
Hydrology at Wuhan University in sultants of Technology Co. Ltd. in Thailand from 1996 to
China since 1991. He was recently 1998. He is now a doctoral studuent at the University of
invited as a Leading Professor on hy- Regina, Regina, Saskatchewa, Canada S4S 0A2.
drology and water resources at the
Institute of Geographic Science and
Natural Sources Research, Chinese
Academy of Science in Beijing,
China. He has completed several im-
Discussions open until December 1, 2001.
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