Urban Flood Risk Sustainable Management: Risk Analysis of Dam Break Induced Flash Floods in Mountainous Valley Cities

Yuanyuan Liu, Yesen Liu (), Qian Yu and Shu Liu
Additional contact information
Yuanyuan Liu: State Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
Yesen Liu: State Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
Qian Yu: State Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
Shu Liu: State Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-14

Abstract: Small reservoirs in hilly areas serve as critical water conservancy infrastructure, playing an essential role in flood control, irrigation, and regional water security. However, dam-break events pose significant risks to downstream urban areas, threatening the sustainability and resilience of cities. This study takes Guangyuan City as a case study and employs numerical simulation methods—including dam-break modeling, hydrological modeling, and hydrodynamic modeling—to analyze the impact of dam-break floods on downstream urban regions. The results reveal that dam failure in small reservoirs can cause peak flood velocities exceeding 15 m/s, severely endangering urban infrastructure, ecosystems, and public safety. Additionally, for reservoirs with large catchment areas, dam-break floods combined with rainfall-induced flash floods may create compound disaster effects, intensifying urban flood risks. These findings underscore the importance of sustainable reservoir management and integrated flood risk strategies to enhance urban resilience and reduce disaster vulnerability. This research contributes to sustainable development by providing scientific insights and practical support for flood risk mitigation and resilient infrastructure planning in mountainous regions.

Keywords: mountainous city; integrated flood and waterlogging management; dam-break flood; flash flood risk; small reservoir; sustainable management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5863/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5863/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5863-:d:1687562

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().