Integrated disaster risk management strategy to prevent exposure to hazardous substances due to inundation triggered releases: a concept for Japan
The Nobi plain in Aichi Prefecture is exposed to multiple hazards, like inundation, typhoons and earthquakes. One serious threat is given by typhoon-triggered inundation as happened in the year 2000 during the Tookai-flood. This threat increased in the last decades because of land subsidence triggered by exhaustive ground water withdrawal in the mid of the 20 th century (Yamamoto, 1984). Several facilities handling hazardous substances were inundated during this event. It is unknown if hazardous substances were released. Similar cases suggest that this is highly probable. E.g., during the 2002-Elbe-flood in Germany large amounts of contaminants like heavy metals were flushed into the Elbe river. This resulted in chemical loadings, up to three magnitudes higher than the normal river load. The total delivered load of lead was 2500 times higher than the annual average load. The origin of those chemicals were determined to be inundated chemical facilities located in the Czech-Republic (Schiemeier, 2002). This example shows that not only the loss of property and life is of concern to disaster managers, also consequences by inundation-triggered events, like releases of hazardous substances have to be considered (Christou, 2000;
Comparison of Potential Risk on Two Managed Aquifer Recharge Sites from River Basin
Drinking water production facilities are designed to filter contaminants that are ever-present in raw water. These facilities, however, pose risks of tap water contamination or water supply discontinuation in the event of a massive chemical spill. A managed aquifer recharge (MAR) offers the advantage of purifying surface water as well as maintaining water underground for extended periods of time, thus securing sufficient time for a response to contaminant infiltration and dramatically increasing consumer safety. However, contaminated aquifers are difficult to recover; accordingly, it is important that MAR sites engage in preemptive responses to chemical spills in order to protect their aquifers. This study assesses potential risks in order to quantify the detrimental impacts of chemical spills in cities located in river basins on drinking water supply facilities. The targets of analysis are two MAR sites in South Korea. The potential risk analysis offers grounds upon which aggressive basin management can be implemented to ensure water supply facility operation safety. The lack of data for available for analysis is addressed using a stochastic methodology that ranks cities in which MAR sites are endangered based on the cities’ potential risk probability distributions. The results of the analysis show that water supply facilities surrounded by larger cities have relatively higher potential risks, and would, therefore, need to handle more management targets to prevent chemical spills. Furthermore, the proposed methodology contributes not only to potential risk management of existing water supply facilities, but also to MAR site selection.
Integrated land degradation monitoring and assessment: Horizontal knowledge management at the national and international levels
The need for improved horizontal knowledge management at the national and international levels is essential for monitoring and assessment of land degradation and desertification. At the national level, governments utilise scientific, socio‐economic and technical data and information for strategic planning, priority setting and national environment and development planning. However, challenges including the lack of capacity and lack of collaboration and sharing of information across governments affect responses to and the effectiveness of monitoring and knowledge exchange, along with the ability to effectively implement treaties. At the international level, a number of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) share cross‐sectoral themes related to research and monitoring, information exchange, technology transfer, capacity building and financial resources. The need for increased synergies stems from the similarities between the issues they address. Challenges for improving knowledge management at the international level include insufficient interaction between the scientific bodies of the various MEAs; duplication of reporting, monitoring and assessment efforts; limited knowledge management between the various assessments addressing ecosystems and biological diversity during the past decade; and insufficient collaboration between the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the UN system and the international non‐governmental organisation (NGO) community. This paper examines these challenges and offers recommendations on how monitoring and assessment knowledge can be better managed at the national and international levels. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.