City of London: Vulnerability of Infrastructure to Climate Change Final Report

The Earth\u27s climate is changing and these changes are documented to have a serious impact on municipal infrastructure. Current infrastructure is designed and constructed based on standards and codes developed decades ago. These standards and codes include historic climate and design storms which are no longer representative of the current climate. With the changes in climate patterns, infrastructure may no longer have the capacity to handle new climate loads. Thus, a region must adapt its policies and procedures to consider climate change and mitigate risks to municipal infrastructure. Climate modeling suggests that the City of London can expect to experience more frequent severe precipitation events in the future as a consequence of climate change. Flooding is therefore a natural hazard event of significance to this region and as such the City commissioned this study to assess the vulnerability of London’s public infrastructure to changing climate conditions. From a hazards perspective, vulnerability assessments provide insights into responses necessary to prevent loss of life, damages, or in worst cases disasters. From a climate change perspective, capturing the differential elements of vulnerability is a prerequisite for developing adaptation policies that will promote equitable and sustainable development. Risk is defined in this study as the intersection of a hazard (flooding) with vulnerability. The risk measure enables conclusions and recommendations to be made regarding the reliability of the infrastructure network within the city to adapt to the changing climate conditions. The study results are meant to identify and prioritize areas of high risk or interest within the city which are recommended for further investigation. These recommendations are meant to aid in policy development as it relates to municipal infrastructure and the future.https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/wrrr/1036/thumbnail.jp

Outcome Evaluation of the work of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) on soil and water management in Ethiopia

In 2019, the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) Leadership chose to evaluate WLE’s work in Ethiopia as one of its countries where it has had most success. The objectives of the evaluation are: To determine how and in what ways WLE contributed to the achievement of intended/unintended outcomes; Based on the findings of the evaluation, make recommendations of how WLE (and its partners) can become more effective in supporting soil and water management in Ethiopia; To serve as a participatory learning experience for WLE and its partners. This report describes the evaluation process, findings, conclusions and recommendations

A Methodology for Municipal Flood Risk Assessment due to Climate Change: A City of London Case Study

ABSTRACT Flooding has devastating physical, social, economic and environmental consequences. It is important to identify and understand the evolution of these risks as climate changes. Most municipal infrastructure is designed using historical data which may no longer accurately represent current climate conditions. As a result, municipalities may be at greater risk of flood damage. The purpose of this study is to develop and test a municipal-level risk assessment methodology considering climate change-caused impacts of flooding. Floodplain maps derived from climate, hydrologic and hydraulic analyses provide direct input into risk assessment procedure. Inundated infrastructure and high risk areas are identified in tables and maps for each climate scenario using quantitative and qualitative risk calculations. The developed risk assessment methodology is applied as a case study to the City of London, Ontario, Canada. Results provide support for climate change adaptation policy development, decision making and emergency management

The Effect of Disinfectants, Cleaning, and Drying Practices on Oriental Rugs Flooded with Contaminated River Water: Public Health and Policy Implications

Oriental rugs contaminated with Category 3 floodwater potentially harbor environmental bacteria known to be human pathogens. River water inoculated with three species of gram positive and gram negative environmental bacteria (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were used to assess the effectiveness of disinfectant type, cleaning methodology and drying practices by examining the survival rates of bacteria. Rug sections were immersed for one hour in contaminated water, saturated in one of three EPA registered disinfectant products (Phenol, Quaternary chloride, and Thyme oil) or tap water as a control, followed by cleaning and drying. The results showed that all disinfectants reduced the overall microbial load better than tap water. Two applications of disinfectants were slightly more effective than one application, which, in combination with drying in 24 hours or less, produced an effect that notably reduced microbial counts. These results provide in-plant rug cleaners the ability to assess the benefits of different products and drying procedures, and demonstrate significant reductions of potentially pathogenic bacteria in Oriental rugs contaminated with Category 3 water

The Effect of Disinfectants, Cleaning, and Drying Practices on Oriental Rugs Flooded with Contaminated River Water: Public Health and Policy Implications

Oriental rugs contaminated with Category 3 floodwater potentially harbor environmental bacteria known to be human pathogens. River water inoculated with three species of gram positive and gram negative environmental bacteria (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were used to assess the effectiveness of disinfectant type, cleaning methodology and drying practices by examining the survival rates of bacteria. Rug sections were immersed for one hour in contaminated water, saturated in one of three EPA registered disinfectant products (Phenol, Quaternary chloride, and Thyme oil) or tap water as a control, followed by cleaning and drying. The results showed that all disinfectants reduced the overall microbial load better than tap water. Two applications of disinfectants were slightly more effective than one application, which, in combination with drying in 24 hours or less, produced an effect that notably reduced microbial counts. These results provide in-plant rug cleaners the ability to assess the benefits of different products and drying procedures, and demonstrate significant reductions of potentially pathogenic bacteria in Oriental rugs contaminated with Category 3 water

Library of Coastal Vulnerability Indicators guidance document

The Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts – Toolkit (RISC-KIT) FP7 EU project (2013-2017) aims to produce a set of three innovative and EU-coherent open-source and open-access methods, tools and management approaches (the RISC-KIT) in support of coastal managers, decision-makers and policy makers to reduce risk and increase resilience to low-frequency, high impact hydro-meteorological events. Risk is defined within this project as the product of the probability of a hazard, the exposure of receptors and their vulnerability. Representing the vulnerability and the potential role of DRR in their reduction is crucial for supporting the decision. As such a specific task of the RISC-KIT project (Task 2.2) is dedicated to developing a Library of Vulnerability Indicators to input in the RISC-KIT Toolkit and to test the tools on 11 case studies. The deliverable “Coastal Vulnerability Indicator Library” is composed of a Microsoft Excel database and a guidance document. The deliverable introduces the necessary concepts and methods, provides a review and a collection of existing indicators and proposes methodologies for developing new indicators. The Library has been constructed around four categories: Built Environment, Population, Ecosystem and Systems. The Library also identifies Disaster Reduction Measures influencing vulnerability and proposes methods to include within the assessment of vulnerability

An intelligent system for vulnerability and remediation assessment of flooded residential buildings

Floods are natural phenomena which are a threat to human settlements. Flooding can result in costly repairs to buildings, loss of business and, in some cases, loss of life. The forecasts for climate change show a further increased risk of flooding in future years. Accordingly, the flooding of residential property has been observed as on the rise in the UK. It is difficult to prevent floods from occurring, but the effects of flooding can be managed in an attempt to reduce risks and costs of repair. This can be achieved through ensuring a good understanding of the problem, and thereby establishing good management systems which are capable of dealing with all aspects of the flood. The use of an intelligent system for assessment and remediation of buildings subjected to flooding damage can facilitate the management of this problem. Such a system can provide guidance for the assessment of vulnerability and the repair of flood damaged residential buildings; this could save time and money through the use of the advantages and benefits offered by knowledge base systems. A prototype knowledge base system has been developed in this research. The system comprises three subsystems: degree of vulnerability assessment subsystem; remediation options subsystem; and foundation damage assessment subsystem. The vulnerability assessment subsystem is used to calculate the degree of vulnerability, which will then be used by the remediation options subsystem to select remediation options strategy. The vulnerability assessment subsystem can subsequently be used to calculate the degree to which the building is vulnerable to damage by flooding even if it is not flooded. Remediation options subsystem recommended two strategy options: either ordinary remediation options in the case of vulnerability being low or, alternatively, resilience remediation options in the case of vulnerability being high. The foundation damage assessment subsystem is working alone and is used to assess the damage caused by flooding to the building s foundation, and to thereby recommend a repair option based on the damage caused and foundation type. The system has been developed based on the knowledge acquired from different sources and methods, including survey questionnaires, documents, interviews, and workshops. The system is then evaluated by experts and professionals in the industry. The developed system makes a contribution in the management and standardisation of residential building flooded damage and repair

Building the evidence base for river drowning prevention

Introduction: Rivers account for a significant proportion of the global burden of drowning. Rivers are the leading location for unintentional fatal drowning in Australia. Through a public health approach, this research provides a framework to develop a detailed understanding (epidemiology, risk factors and strategies for the prevention) of unintentional fatal river drowning in Australia. Methods: A mixed methods approach was used including: a systematic literature review; epidemiological analysis of a 10‐year total population case‐series and review of coronial recommendations; a CATI survey, community surveys, breathalysing and direct observation; and a modified Delphi process to develop prevention strategies. Results: Males (80%), adults (85%), alcohol (41%) and increasing geographical remoteness (very remote 29 times [RR= 28.8] the risk of drowning compared to major city residents) are key risk factors for river drowning. Similar numbers of males and females visit rivers, often for different activities with river visitations more likely in the afternoon, on hot days, weekends and public holidays. Adjusting for exposure, older males (75+ years) had the greatest relative risk (RR= 1.12). Blood alcohol concentrations ≥0.05% were seen among both males and females with alcohol consumption at rivers more prevalent in the afternoon and early evening. Eight percent of river drowning cases generated coronial recommendations. Prevention strategies considered more likely to be effective included: avoiding alcohol; flood‐related early warning systems; child supervision; learning to swim; lifejackets; and community‐wide rescue and resuscitation skills. Discussion: Preventing river drowning presents is a wicked problem, where usage of such locations is encouraged, often accompanied with alcohol consumption and a lack of on‐site rescue services. Enacting legislation and subsequent enforcement are challenging due to mixed use, geographical dispersal and isolation. River drowning attracts an estimated economic burden of $318.70 million dollars per annum. Further investment in the development, implementation and evaluation of evidence‐based drowning prevention interventions is warranted. Strategies such as community wide rescue and resuscitation skills, especially in remote locations, must be considered. Conclusion: This research, the first to specifically explore river drowning in the world, highlights the value of taking a public health approach. By building a broad evidence base of the causal factors increasing river drowning risk, the likelihood of prevention strategies being effective is enhanced. Research findings were used in the development of the 'Respect the River' and 'Don't Let Your Mates Drink and Drown' drowning prevention programs, in partnership with Royal Life Saving Society – Australia, which have contributed to an 18% reduction in river drowning to date