Rivers
Land Use The River Tees.
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The Tees is located in the north west of England. Its source is in the Pennines in
the west and flows east to the sea.
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In the Uplands. Source Cross fell 893m above sea level. Rainfall 2000mm+ per
year.
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Large amounts of run off due to impermeable rock and steep slopes. Steep sided
“V” shaped valley profile. Long profile has a steep gradient.
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River is turbulent and clear but is sometimes stained brown by peat. Highforce,
which is one of the largest waterfalls in England, is found here. There is mixtures
of hard igneous rock know as Whinstone and softer bands of sandstone. The land
uses in the upland river are mainly forestry and hill farming. There is some tourist
activity in the area with a famous walking route the Pennine way passing through
the area.
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Moving downstream the valley begins to widen with more bridging points and
larger villages like Yarm. In Yarm there are many houses and local facilities such
as a Railway station and the main A67 passes through the town as well. The land
is much flatter hereaqnd the river has several meanders. There is still agricultural
activity in the valley at this point as well. In the 19-century some meanders were
cut to shorten the journey for boats from Yarm to Stockton. The river flows into
an estuary where there are large mud flats.
Mississipi Floods.
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The floods in 1993 were the worst since records began. At the peak of the floods
that river was 18m deep. 25km wide and flowing at 96km an hour.
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The Effects.
28 People Dead.
36000 people made homeless many more evacuated.
Roads and rail lines under water.
Electricity lines fell down, people left with out power.
6000000 acres of farm land flooded ruining maize crops.
Millons of tonnes of silt and sand deposited in the flood zone.
Estimated $10 billion was needed for repair.
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Cause of the flood- melting snow in the spring followed by 50 days of heavy rain.
 Flood protection.
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The US Corps of Engineers have tried to reduce the risk of flooding by raising and
strengthening Levees, excavated cut-offs to straighten out meanders, dredged the
river bed and built revetments (protective walls).
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After the floods some questioned the wisdom of the work carried out by the
engineers. They argued that less damage would have been done if water was
allowed to gently flood farm land and soak back into the channel as the floods
receded as opposed to the catastrophic floods caused by the failure of Levees.
Other people feel humans should not settle on flood plains and should not cover
large areas with impermeable concrete and tarmac. They believe the function of
the flood plain is to act as a store for water when the river floods.
 Flooding in Bangladesh
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Bangladesh suffers from flooding every year. These floods bring benefits like
fertile sediment, which makes the deltas and flood plains ideal for farming.
However when the floods are as severe as they were in 1998 they bring loss of life
and suffering to the population.
Human causes of the floods.
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Sources of the rivers Brahmaputra and Ganges are in Nepal and Tibet which have
rapidly growing populations causing the removal of vast areas of forest for fuel
and land for grazing. In Nepal nearly 50% of the forest that was there in the 1950s
has been cut down. The removal of forests has increased overland flow and
erosion. The soil that is eroded is deposited in the river channels so reducing their
size. The bed of the Brahmaputra is rising by 5cms a year.
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The Farakka Dam in India is blamed for rising the bed of the Hooghly River
which is a tributary of the Ganges. This increases the risk of flooding.
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Global warming is blamed by some. A rise in sea level is blamed for the long
duration of the floods in 1998 (56 days). The higher global temperature is blamed
for especially heavy rain fall in the Himalayas 1n 1998.
 The effects of the Flooding.
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575+ of the land area flooded.
In Assam in the north east over 1 million people lost there homes.
In Nalbari district 240 villages were submerged.
Over 1000 people killed and millions made homeless.
There were severe shortages of drinking water.
Diseases such as Diarrhoea and bronchitis were spread.
The floods cost the country nearly 1 billion dollars.
 Managing floods in the short term
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The Bangladesh government distributed money and 400 tones of rice. It also
provided relief supplies of fresh water, water purification tablets and sanitation
devices.
Provided clean
drinking water
Distributed food
and plastic
sheeting.
Aid agencies also
helped by.
Set up medical
treatment
centers
Planned a
rehabilitation
scheme to repair
and construct
houses and to
provide
sanitation
Provided
boats to
rescue people
Supplied
medicines
Distributed
food for
live stock.
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Managing the floods in the long term
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Bangladesh does not have the money to provide the solutions itself.
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In July 1987 the world bank prepared an action plan for flood control. This plan
includes 3500km of embankments to include storage compartments for
floodwater. Other flood control measures are:
Build several large dams
12-15 storage basins to hold flood water diverted from the main rivers.
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Pump water out of the ground in the Himalayas in the dry season to provide
storage in the monsoon season.
Replanting trees in Tibet and Nepal.
Some people believe no hard engineering works should take place due to cost and
the fact that some think Levees make flooding worse. In their place they think
there should be improved warning systems, flood shelters and emergency services.
Such schemes would:
Be cheaper
Use more appropriate technology in line with local knowledge, skills and finance.
Be less likely to damage Eco systems
Avoid political difficulties with neighbors.
Hard engineering systems are used to protect those areas, which are densely
populated wit intensive agriculture and a soft approach taken with low lying less
densely populate areas.