LONDON, June 2, 2008 -- With five million people at risk from flooding in the UK alone, it is vital to harness the global science, technology and engineering expertise available to help manage the risk.
Speaking at the launch of CIWEM's new Journal of Flood Risk Management at the House of Commons, David Rooke, Head of Flood Risk Management at the Environment Agency, said: "Around 55,000 properties were flooded last summer in England and we have had significant floods since then that have flooded more houses. Lives have been lost here and abroad. This journal provides the opportunity to apply international best practice in solving our problems and to showcase some of the latest technologies from the UK".
CIWEM's journal, supported by Arup, MWH and Royal Haskoning and published with Blackwell Publishing, provides an international platform for knowledge sharing and information dissemination across the range of disciplines where flood related research is carried out. The online-only journal will cover topics such as modelling, infrastructure management, hydrology, flood forecasting, land use management, policy and legislation, as well as uncertainty analysis and risk.
The journal was launched in May at the House of Commons with the support of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Climate Change.
Editor in Chief, David Balmforth, said: "Given the potential impacts of climate change, flooding poses one of the biggest challenges to humanity for its future well being. CIWEM's new journal will share solutions which could improve our resilience to flooding in the future. You cannot get the key messages across to decision makers unless you have a solid basis of science and evidence. This journal will provide that basis."
The inaugural issue is out now and subscriptions are free for the whole of 2008 via www.floodriskmanagement.org.
The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) is an independent professional body and a registered charity, advancing the science and practice of water and environmental management for a clean, green and sustainable world.
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