Developing Geographic Information Systems for Land Use Impact Assessment in Flooding Conditions

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is used to develop automated methods for quantifying the spatial variability of flood hazard. An interface module developed within GIS incorporated flood water elevations predicted from a hydraulic simulation, Ontario depth/damage curves, and simulation functions for evaluating alternative flood control policies. A case study from the town of Dundas, Ontario, Canada, is used to demonstrate the advantages that are gained by the application of this module. The proposed approach will provide water resources managers with improved insight into flooding conditions, strengthening the risk assessment process and the administration of human activities in river floodplains.