← Decision Patterns Flooding & Sewage
What problem does this solve?
No single flood defence can handle every type of flooding. Rivers, rainfall, tides, and groundwater can all cause floods, sometimes simultaneously.
How it works
Multiple types of flood infrastructure work together as a coordinated system: barriers, channels, storage areas, pumps, and natural floodplains, all connected by monitoring and control systems.
Typical infrastructure
Flood barriers, underground channels, retention basins, pump stations, natural floodplains
Typical monitoring
Integrated sensor networks, central control rooms, automated gate and pump systems
Strengths
Handles multiple flood sources; redundancy if one component fails; can combine engineered and natural solutions
Trade-offs
Complex to design and coordinate; expensive across the full system; requires ongoing inter-agency cooperation
Related use cases
Operational scenarios where this pattern is applied:
Case studies
Real-world examples of this pattern in action: