THEME

Rivers, coasts and deltas

Water has historically been an attractive factor for human settlement, with many societies evolving alongside rivers, in deltas and in coastal areas. This is because, from a human perspective, these landforms perform a range of important functions. They supply water for drinking, irrigation and cooling, provide travel routes for commerce, offer recreation, and support diverse ecosystems, to name a few examples.

At the same time, people who reside in these areas are vulnerable to flooding and other natural hazards which are likely to increase in frequency and/or severity in the next decades due to climate changes. Such hazards can disrupt people’s lives and livelihoods and are most devastating to those who live in low- and middle income countries and have limited access to support systems.

To promote the functions of rivers, coasts and deltas as well as to limit the risks that they pose, we, at HKV, support our clients from both the private and the public sector by carefully developing design and implementation plans. These are based on state-of-the-art approaches, adapted to the specific context and integrated into the wider system. Additionally, we offer institutions in different parts of the world capacity-building services geared towards finding suitable solutions. To this end, we make use of our extensive knowledge of hydraulics, morphology and scientific modelling.