New ways to control floods needed
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Concerned citizens said conventional methods of controlling the floods such as building dams, raising riverbanks or straightening rivers only worsened the situation as it decreased the rivers' capacity to hold floodwaters.

They suggested that instead of building more dams or raising riverbanks, the best and most effective way to control floods was to increase the capacity of rivers by developing infrastructure to distribute floodwaters among the many rivers in the affected areas.

"It's okay if a river overflows a little bit along the way as it flows downstream, because it needs to maintain its existence. It is also useful to improve water conservation in both upstream areas and the river itself," they said.

They issued this call after seeing how many parts of the country were affected by one of the worst flash floods in decades, which were attributed to heavy rain as well as high tide that caused the rivers to burst their banks.

"In some areas the flash floods were due to bad drainage and clogged drains. Therefore drains should always be cleared and better drainage systems be constructed in necessary areas," they added.

To help a river boost its capacity in containing a flood, they suggested for riversides to be turned into structures, or "parking areas", which can hold excess water and runoffs as the river flows downstream.

A study is needed to locate ideal sites to be developed into natural holders to temporarily intercept and retain the floodwater, they said. "The more parking areas there are, the more significant they will be in preventing floods."

They said the use of other conventional drainage principles, which aimed to channel rainwater to the rivers as quickly as possible, may not function in the long run.

"It's time to abandon these principles, because controlling a flood is not the same as draining an area," they said.

Instead of draining, various areas allocated for farms, housing estates, industrial complexes or office buildings must be equipped with conservation pools to intercept and retain rainwater before it reached the rivers, they added.

The pools would also function to absorb rainwater and conserve the water underground.

"Conservation pools will significantly prevent the downstream area from flooding, especially because of their capability to absorb and temporarily hold the rainwater," they said.

They also suggested for mass reforestation along the riverbank as another preventive solution for the annual floods, the cause of which has often been linked to the widespread deforestation in forest preserves and concessions from illegal logging and poor management.

"Reforestation can no longer be postponed, because the decreasing size of forests in various places in the country is no longer tolerable," they said.

They also suggested that logging activities be halted and a nationwide reforestation campaign be raised as soon as possible.

"Otherwise, the drought during the dry season and the floods and landslides during the rainy season will worsen and spread everywhere in the country. The three disasters actually stem from the damaged ecology of riverside areas," they said.

They added that developing a "water culture" at the community level would help in the effort to prevent floods. The campaign for the culture would improve people's readiness to rescue their lives and belongings in the event of flood.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin