Applying the Urban Resilience Theory to Flooding on Flood-prone settlements along the Pampanga River

Abstract

By accepting periodic flood as an unavoidable circumstance, urban communities in eastern Pampanga can adapt to flood flows from the Pampanga River better during high-intensity storms by creating a more ecologically-resilient multi-equilibria system of adaptation. A typical solution is to apply engineering solutions to flooding, resulting in a forced state of equilibrium that is ill-adapted to the changing forces of nature. By understanding the dichotomous theory of urban resilience to floods, strategies can be formed to assess and plan a more adaptive flood hazard management framework. To operationalize the theory, an estimation of storm-water and riparian alluvial flow is developed to understand the volumetric capacity of floodwaters natural floodplains need to accommodate flooding. The rational method of computing runoff is applied to the major watershed forming the flood-prone Pampanga River, determining the percentage of floodable area and moving ecological equilibria. This creates a better understanding of the distribution of flood by providing a baseline for the future planning of mitigation and adaptation urban strategies to flooding such as providing vegetated buffer zones, no build zones, and ground to building floor height.