bank erosion
The erosion of material from the side of a river channel. Hooke (1979) J. Hydrology 42 identifies corrasion and slumping as the major processes, and these appear to be associated with river flow ...
bankfull flow
Maximum amount of discharge (usually measured in m3/s) that a stream channel can carry without overflowing. Its frequency of occurrence varies between streams, from a few times each year to once ...
Bushfires
Have been part of the Australian environment for millions of years, whether sparked by lightning strikes or by human action. The use of fire by Aborigines to assist their hunting ...
disasters
A hazard event (natural or induced) that seriously disrupts the normal functions of society and causes widespread human, material, or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected ...
drought
A relative term denoting a period during which rainfall is either totally absent or substantially lower than usual for the area in question, so that there is a resulting shortage of water for human ...
emergency
In public health, a situation that threatens life, personal, and population health and safety, human settlements, habitat, generally associated with environmental change from equilibrium to an ...
flash flood
A brief but powerful surge of water either over a surface (‘sheet flood’) or down a normally dry stream channel (‘stream flood’). Usually it is caused by heavy convectional rainfall of short ...
flood damage
The economic loss that is caused by a flood, which includes direct damage due to inundation, erosion, and sediment deposition, as well as emergency costs and business or financial losses.
flood forecast
A prediction of the likely height, timing, and duration of a flood, particularly the peak discharge at a specified point on a stream, based on information about precipitation and/or snowmelt and the ...
flood frequency
The probability (likelihood) that a flood of a certain size will occur in a given year in a particular river or part of a river. See also recurrence interval.
flood frequency analysis
Analysis of hydrograph records of river flow to determine the flood frequency at a particular location within a river system, based on either the annual maximum series or the partial duration series.
flood peak
The highest stage (largest discharge) reached during a particular flood at a given point on a river. Also known as peak discharge.
flood stage
The water level (stage) in a river or stream beyond which the flow starts to flood adjacent land. See also bankfull.
floodplain
The part of a river valley that is made of unconsolidated river-borne sediment, and periodically flooded. It is built up of relatively coarse debris left behind as a stream channel migrates ...
floodplain management
A coordinated approach to the reduction of flood damage that usually includes emergency and contingency plans, flood control works, and regulations to control current and future development in the ...
high tide
High water. The highest level to which the tide rises within the daily tidal cycle. Contrast low tide.
ice jam
A build‐up of floating ice that blocks a narrow river channel, and can cause local flooding during a thaw in late winter or early spring.
jökulhlaup
‘A “catastrophic” flood, often generated by an ice-dammed lake outburst’, for example the volcanic eruption and concomitant catastrophic flooding from Grímsvötn, Iceland, in November 1996 (Tweed and ...
