A politics of global datasets and models in flood risk management
Momentum and interest have gathered around global flood risk datasets and models (GFMs). Such tools are often argued to be particularly useful in contexts where relevant data – such as stream flow and human settlement location – is sparse, inconsistent, or non-existent. As a relatively new techno...
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Water Alternatives Association
2025-06-01
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| author | Joshua Cohen Anna Mdee Mark A. Trigg Shivani Singhal Sarah Cooper Abel Negussie Alemu Eden Seifu Cindy Lee Ik Sing Mark V. Bernhofen Ajay Bhave Andrew Carr C.T. Dhanya Alemseged Tamiru Haile Leonairo Pencue-Fierro Zulfaqar Sa’adi Prabhakar Shukla Yady Tatiana Solano-Correa Jaime Amezaga Shambhavi Gupta Ashok Kumar Adey Nigatu Mersha Zainura Zainon Noor Alesia Ofori Tilaye Worku Bekele |
| author_facet | Joshua Cohen Anna Mdee Mark A. Trigg Shivani Singhal Sarah Cooper Abel Negussie Alemu Eden Seifu Cindy Lee Ik Sing Mark V. Bernhofen Ajay Bhave Andrew Carr C.T. Dhanya Alemseged Tamiru Haile Leonairo Pencue-Fierro Zulfaqar Sa’adi Prabhakar Shukla Yady Tatiana Solano-Correa Jaime Amezaga Shambhavi Gupta Ashok Kumar Adey Nigatu Mersha Zainura Zainon Noor Alesia Ofori Tilaye Worku Bekele |
| author_sort | Joshua Cohen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Momentum and interest have gathered around global flood risk datasets and models (GFMs). Such tools
are often argued to be particularly useful in contexts where relevant data – such as stream flow and human
settlement location – is sparse, inconsistent, or non-existent. As a relatively new technology, the technical
limitations of GFMs – as specifically technical methodological challenges – have been quite well explored in existing
literature. However, through engagement with literature, government policy documents and plans, and interviews
with academic and commercial experts in Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Malaysia, and the UK, we show that their
relevance and utility in reality cross-cut the technical, the political, and the social.
We argue that GFMs risk becoming another means through which states and other powerful actors re-imagine
floods as technical challenges, while they are at root political-economic dilemmas(cf. Ferguson, 1994). This is linked
to the ways that such technologies advance, becoming increasingly computationally powerful and accurate, and to
the mutually reinforcing roles they play in relation to various 'fantasy plans' produced by governmental and other
agencies (Weinstein et al., 2019). By focussing on an extended case study in the Akaki Catchment, Ethiopia, we
argue that such fantasy plans – like those blueprinting urban development – serve to buttress state power through
the performance of stability and reliability, while they avoid effectively tackling, or may even exacerbate, the
political-economic realities which drive unequitable and unsustainable development. Such forms of development
are directly linked to increasing flood risk both locally and globally. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a8fc6c19d33f4b43a0187ccc5926831d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1965-0175 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Water Alternatives Association |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water Alternatives |
| spelling | doaj-art-a8fc6c19d33f4b43a0187ccc5926831d2025-08-20T03:31:07ZengWater Alternatives AssociationWater Alternatives1965-01752025-06-01182305329A politics of global datasets and models in flood risk managementJoshua Cohen0Anna Mdee1Mark A. Trigg2Shivani Singhal3Sarah Cooper4Abel Negussie Alemu5Eden Seifu6Cindy Lee Ik Sing7Mark V. Bernhofen8Ajay Bhave9Andrew Carr10C.T. Dhanya11Alemseged Tamiru Haile12Leonairo Pencue-Fierro13Zulfaqar Sa’adi14Prabhakar Shukla15Yady Tatiana Solano-Correa16Jaime Amezaga17Shambhavi Gupta18Ashok Kumar19Adey Nigatu Mersha20Zainura Zainon Noor21Alesia Ofori22Tilaye Worku Bekele23University of Leeds University of LeedsUniversity of LeedsUniversity of Leeds,University of LiverpoolArba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia;Addis Ababa universityNewcastle UniversityOxford UniversityUniversity of LeedsWater Consultancy Division, Mott Macdonald, GlasgowIndian Institute of TechnologyInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI), EthiopiaUniversidad del Cauca, Popayán, Colombia;Universiti Teknologi MalaysiaIndian Institute of TechnologyPontificia Universidad Javeriana, Cali, ColombiaNewcastle UniversityColumbia University, New YorkSchool of Planning and Architecture; New DelhiWater and Land Resource Centre (WLRC), EthiopiaUniversiti Teknologi MalaysiaCranfield University, UKInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI), Ethiopia Momentum and interest have gathered around global flood risk datasets and models (GFMs). Such tools are often argued to be particularly useful in contexts where relevant data – such as stream flow and human settlement location – is sparse, inconsistent, or non-existent. As a relatively new technology, the technical limitations of GFMs – as specifically technical methodological challenges – have been quite well explored in existing literature. However, through engagement with literature, government policy documents and plans, and interviews with academic and commercial experts in Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Malaysia, and the UK, we show that their relevance and utility in reality cross-cut the technical, the political, and the social. We argue that GFMs risk becoming another means through which states and other powerful actors re-imagine floods as technical challenges, while they are at root political-economic dilemmas(cf. Ferguson, 1994). This is linked to the ways that such technologies advance, becoming increasingly computationally powerful and accurate, and to the mutually reinforcing roles they play in relation to various 'fantasy plans' produced by governmental and other agencies (Weinstein et al., 2019). By focussing on an extended case study in the Akaki Catchment, Ethiopia, we argue that such fantasy plans – like those blueprinting urban development – serve to buttress state power through the performance of stability and reliability, while they avoid effectively tackling, or may even exacerbate, the political-economic realities which drive unequitable and unsustainable development. Such forms of development are directly linked to increasing flood risk both locally and globally.https://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol18/v18issue2/784-a18-2-9/fileglobal datasetsglobal modelsflood risk managementpoliticsfantasy plans |
| spellingShingle | Joshua Cohen Anna Mdee Mark A. Trigg Shivani Singhal Sarah Cooper Abel Negussie Alemu Eden Seifu Cindy Lee Ik Sing Mark V. Bernhofen Ajay Bhave Andrew Carr C.T. Dhanya Alemseged Tamiru Haile Leonairo Pencue-Fierro Zulfaqar Sa’adi Prabhakar Shukla Yady Tatiana Solano-Correa Jaime Amezaga Shambhavi Gupta Ashok Kumar Adey Nigatu Mersha Zainura Zainon Noor Alesia Ofori Tilaye Worku Bekele A politics of global datasets and models in flood risk management Water Alternatives global datasets global models flood risk management politics fantasy plans |
| title | A politics of global datasets and models in flood risk management |
| title_full | A politics of global datasets and models in flood risk management |
| title_fullStr | A politics of global datasets and models in flood risk management |
| title_full_unstemmed | A politics of global datasets and models in flood risk management |
| title_short | A politics of global datasets and models in flood risk management |
| title_sort | politics of global datasets and models in flood risk management |
| topic | global datasets global models flood risk management politics fantasy plans |
| url | https://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol18/v18issue2/784-a18-2-9/file |
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