HESS Hydrology and Earth System Sciences HESS Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 1607-7938 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/hess-17-3295-2013 Socio-hydrology: conceptualising human-flood interactions Di Baldassarre G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8180-4996 1 Viglione A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7587-4832 2 Carr G. 3 Kuil L. 3 Salinas J. L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3045-9811 2 Blöschl G. 2 3 Department of Integrated Water Systems and Governance, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria Centre for Water Resource Systems, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria 21 08 2013 17 8 3295 3303 Copyright: © 2013 G. Di Baldassarre et al. 2013 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/17/3295/2013/hess-17-3295-2013.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/17/3295/2013/hess-17-3295-2013.pdf

Over history, humankind has tended to settle near streams because of the role of rivers as transportation corridors and the fertility of riparian areas. However, human settlements in floodplains have been threatened by the risk of flooding. Possible responses have been to resettle away and/or modify the river system by building flood control structures. This has led to a complex web of interactions and feedback mechanisms between hydrological and social processes in settled floodplains. This paper is an attempt to conceptualise these interplays for hypothetical human-flood systems. We develop a simple, dynamic model to represent the interactions and feedback loops between hydrological and social processes. The model is then used to explore the dynamics of the human-flood system and the effect of changing individual characteristics, including external forcing such as technological development. The results show that the conceptual model is able to reproduce reciprocal effects between floods and people as well as the emergence of typical patterns. For instance, when levees are built or raised to protect floodplain areas, their presence not only reduces the frequency of flooding, but also exacerbates high water levels. Then, because of this exacerbation, higher flood protection levels are required by society. As a result, more and more flooding events are avoided, but rare and catastrophic events take place.

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