ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, February 3rd, 2012 – Key Government Departments attended a presentation delivered earlier today by Dr. Zoran Vojinovic, an Associate Professor of Hydroinformatics at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Institute for Water Education (IHE) in the Netherlands.
Dr. Vojinovic and Ms. Garymar Rivera, the Senior Technical Planning Manager at the Department of Disaster Management (DDM), over the last three days, visited Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke and key locations throughout the Territory to assess the existing condition of drainage ways and drainage systems.
The main solutions presented included the construction of new channels, the widening of existing channels and the development of Detention/Retention Ponds. He also recommended the incorporation of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems which speak to measures such as designated overland flow paths or swales, permeable car parks, using open fields to create natural ponds for capturing water, green roofs, infiltration trenches that lead to aquifers and other non-traditional measures.
Dr. Vojinovic said “One of the most important measures in addressing the flood issues in the Territory is to ensure greater synergy between Development Planning, Drainage Management, Sewerage Management and Disaster Management. Given the nature of flooding in the region, and the increasing flash flood hazard, there will be no measure to completely eliminate the risk of flooding. The challenge is to find those measures that will minimise this risk to certain acceptable limits.”
He further stated “In some cases, options can be limited in densely developed locations where there is little room for drainage structures.” He suggested that a phased approach be undertaken in finding those measures that can be both cost effective and acceptable to the affected community and added “It is important to assess the current building process to identify areas where development should be restricted to allow for protection of drainage flow paths and to avoid development in these hazardous areas.” He went on to encourage the DDM to consider more proactive Disaster Management strategies and implementation of early warning systems designed to address the flood hazard.
Dr. Vojinovic now heads to St. Maarten, where he will continue his work on the Flood Management Project, and deliver a tailor made course on GIS and Remote Sensing for Infrastructure Management in Disaster Risk Reduction. The DDM will be represented at this course and will, in the future, seek to engage Dr. Vojinovic and UNESCO-IHE to provide further analysis of the flood hazard and guidance on the development of flood mitigation strategies specific to the Virgin Islands.
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