Floods have increased significantly in recent years, specifically in the Asia and Pacific region, due to climate change and other effect-every country in the region has recently been affected by floods. The devastation of flooding is not limited to impacting food security and agricultural productivity. Equally important is the direct affect these devastating natural disasters have on the livelihoods of people in the hard-hit regions.
Emanating from the project RAS/5/069 first Coordination Meeting on Complementing Conventional Approaches with Nuclear Techniques towards Flood Risk Mitigation and Post-Flood Rehabilitation Efforts in Asia, held from 10-13 June 2014 in Vienna, a Task Force meeting of eminent experts was convened at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna from 11-14 November 2014, for the purpose of developing Guidelines on Nuclear Techniques in pre-Flood mitigation and post-Flood management.
The guidelines were developed for the following four disciplines:
- Animal Production and Health
- Isotope Hydrology
- Plant Breeding and Genetics
- Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition
The developed Guidelines would concern the application of nuclear techniques in a multi-sectoral approach for flood risk mitigation and post-flood management in particular:
During the pre-flood period:
- Characterize the inter-dependencies of soil and water conditions and agricultural systems
- Identify areas and systems at risk of flooding and develop effective flood risk and post-flood response strategies
During the post-flood period:
- Quantify how floods affected the distribution of water, soil, animal and plant agriculture
- Improve upon local area knowledge of flood mitigation
The Task Force Meeting was successfully concluded with the Guidelines on Nuclear Techniques in pre-Flood mitigation and post-Flood management developed, which will be disseminated to the project's Member States.
