A case for evidence-based levee management using sensor technology

Flooding from rivers and seas is one of the most destructive natural disasters and affects around 100 million people globally on average per year. Worldwide climate change is increasing the risk of flooding due to sea-level rise and extreme rainfall events. Urbanization is causing more people and economic activity to move into flood-prone areas, increasing the impact of flooding. The economic consequences of flooding are not limited to the affected region alone. As supply chains have become globally distributed, a regional disruption may have worldwide economic impact. Mitigating these threats by structurally improving flood defenses, such as levees, is costly. Governments worldwide already commit increasing funds to improve the flood protection infrastructure. However, governments generally seek to reduce costs and find more cost-efficient solutions. Levee monitoring has the potential to provide an efficient solution to improve levee quality and to become more flood-resilient by providing increasingly reliable insight into the condition of levees. This research presents a reference architecture for an evidence-based levee management system, a financial cost-benefit model, and a case study.