Flood disaster in Taihu Basin, China: causal chain and policy option analyses

Taihu Lake is at the densely populated region of the eastern coast of China. Taihu Basin is one of the most developed regions of China. The frequency of flood disaster in Taihu Basin has been increasing in the recent years, resulting in more drowned areas and economic loss. It is shown that flood disaster is the most serious problems in Taihu Lake and Taihu Basin. Mitigation of flood problems and return to sustainability has now been given high attention and are prioritized in the Chinese national policies. This paper describes the state of the flood disaster in the Taihu Basin, examines the root causes for flood disaster, demonstrates by examples how these analyses known as transboundary diagnostic analysis can be used to develop policy options that can help predict and reduce the flood disaster based on past and current measures and policy.