River information management and early flood release in response to climate change in Vietnam

Abstract

Increasing flood risks in a changing climate tend to put greater pressure on water-related infrastructure, existing operations, and management practices. This paper introduces preliminary research results on river information management and flood-risk reduction based on an early flood-release approach that has the goals of better reservoir operation, adapting to climate change, and ensuring dam safety in Vietnam. Early flood release is performed using inflow prediction information derived from a medium-range global numerical weather-prediction model. The results show that peak discharge and inundation areas are remarkably reduced, and are useful for improving the safety of dams and flood-risk management in downstream areas.