It is possible to reduce flood damage in urban areas by paddy fields that exist in valleys where water flowing on the surface of the earth tends to collect. , Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consultant Naofumi Toka, Senior Researcher and others found out.
According to Kyoto Sangyo University, the research team investigated and analyzed the area damaged by floods that occurred from 3 to 2006 in the three prefectures of Tochigi, Gunma, and Saitama, the ratio of urban areas to agricultural land, and the area of paddy fields. ..
As a result, it was found that the ratio of urban areas to the flooded area is low in the municipalities where many paddy fields are located in the terrain where water flowing on the surface of the earth tends to collect, such as valleys and depressions.On the other hand, the total paddy field area in the municipalities did not affect the urban area ratio of the flooded area.
It is highly possible that the places where water tends to collect topographically were natural wetlands such as floodplain wetlands in the past.Even if the environment changes in the paddy fields, the wetland environment that makes use of the inflowing water is maintained.The research team believes that land use close to the ecosystem that originally existed in the area is mitigating flood damage.
As one of the means to respond to natural disasters such as rapidly increasing floods, disaster prevention and mitigation using ecosystems are attracting attention.It can be said that this research has proved that the function of paddy fields, which accepts flooded water and reduces the impact on urban areas, can be expected as a preliminary disaster prevention infrastructure.
Paper information:[International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction] Potential of mitigating floodwater damage to residential areas using paddy fields in water storage zones
