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Water-Related Disaster Assessments and Prevention
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Water-Related Disaster Assessments and Prevention

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydraulics and Hydrodynamics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 1378

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zhipan Niu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, Sichuan University-Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Chengdu 610207, China
Interests: hydraulic engineering; hydrodynamics; landslides; dam break flow; debris flow; hazard chain; hydraulic structures; flood risk assessment
Prof. Dr. Faxing Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Interests: hydraulic engineering; hydrodynamics; dam break flow; sediment transport; hydraulic structures
Prof. Dr. Baofeng Di

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, Sichuan University-Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Chengdu 610207, China
Interests: debris flow prediction; multi-hazard risk assessment; archaeological hazard evidence; community disaster resilience; GIS hazard mapping
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water-related disasters pose significant threats to human settlements, infrastructure, and ecosystems worldwide. Climate change and rapid urbanization have intensified the frequency and severity of these events, while human engineering activities such as dam construction, river modifications, and slope alterations have created new disaster scenarios, including dam break floods, barrier lake formations, and engineered slope failures. Intense flows can also trigger scour around bridge piers and other in-channel structures, undermining their stability. Additionally, natural landslides triggered by extreme precipitation, earthquakes, or geological processes can significantly impact water systems, creating secondary hazards such as river blockages, flash floods, and cascading disaster chains. The complex interactions between natural processes, engineering interventions, and hydrological systems demand comprehensive assessment and prevention strategies that integrate physical process understanding, risk assessment frameworks, and community resilience building approaches.

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research on fundamental mechanisms, experimental investigations, advanced measurement techniques, and risk assessment methodologies for water-related disasters. We seek contributions that enhance our understanding of physical processes through laboratory experiments, field observations, numerical simulations, and innovative monitoring technologies. A special emphasis is placed on mechanistic studies, novel experimental methodologies, advanced instrumentation, multi-hazard risk assessment, GIS-based hazard mapping, debris flow prediction models, and community disaster resilience strategies. We welcome research that reveals the underlying physics of disaster phenomena and supports the development of effective prevention, mitigation, and adaptation measures from both engineering and socio-ecological perspectives.

Dr. Zhipan Niu
Prof. Dr. Faxing Zhang
Prof. Dr. Baofeng Di
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dam break flow
  • landslide-induced disasters
  • river blockage
  • debris flow
  • water-related hazard chains
  • hydrodynamic modeling
  • flood risk assessment
  • multi-hazard assessment
  • failure of hydraulic structures
  • multi-hazard risk assessment

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 5758 KB  
Article
Analyzing Emergency Service Performance and Fastest Rescue Routes to Vulnerable Population Places Under Compound Pluvial Flooding and Traffic Congestion
by Fan Yi, Hao Jia, Chengyu Liang, Qifei Zhang, Yanmei Wang, Yafei Wang and Hui Zhang
Water 2026, 18(6), 736; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18060736 - 20 Mar 2026
Viewed by 564
Abstract
The combined impacts of urban pluvial flooding and traffic congestion can severely delay emergency response. However, existing studies often focus on isolated scenarios, failing to systematically quantify the reduction in overall service capability and specific route disruptions to critical functional nodes under compound [...] Read more.
The combined impacts of urban pluvial flooding and traffic congestion can severely delay emergency response. However, existing studies often focus on isolated scenarios, failing to systematically quantify the reduction in overall service capability and specific route disruptions to critical functional nodes under compound hazards. To address this problem, this study proposes a three-tier analytical framework to systematically evaluate the resilience of emergency services under compound hazards. The framework first utilizes spatial network analysis to simulate the overall spatial evolution of service capabilities for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) across various return periods and traffic conditions. It then delves into the emergency response coverage for vulnerable population places. Finally, the fastest-route analysis is employed to identify variations in rescue routing. The study reveals several critical insights. (1) As rainfall intensity and traffic congestion intensify, the coverage areas of EMS and FRS exhibit significant contraction and boundary erosion. Notably, the service areas of FRS show a distinct fragmentation pattern. (2) The protection levels for vulnerable population places (e.g., kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and nursing homes) show a pronounced stepwise decline. Under extreme rainfall and the heaviest congestion, the 5 min coverage for these sites drops from 89.9% to 23.6% for EMS, and from 72.4% to only 15.1% for FRS, revealing a severe risk exposure for vulnerable groups. (3) Road inundation leads to a substantial extension of rescue routes and even results in the complete isolation of 141 primary and secondary schools. Overall, the framework provides actionable decision support to enhance urban emergency response under compound hazards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water-Related Disaster Assessments and Prevention)
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24 pages, 18171 KB  
Article
CFD-DEM-Based Simulation Study on Lateral Sudden Sediment Supply and Riverbed Evolution in a Mountainous Stream Channel Induced by Multi-Stage Slope Slumps
by Ming Lei, Liang Zhang, Sen Wang and Chen Ye
Water 2026, 18(4), 481; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18040481 - 13 Feb 2026
Viewed by 451
Abstract
Under dynamic loading (e.g., earthquakes, extreme rainfall), multi-stage slope slumps occur as downstream slopes lose anti-sliding stability, triggering intensive lateral sediment supply that governs mountainous channel evolution. This study uses a coupled CFD-DEM model to simulate how water–sediment conditions regulate sediment transport and [...] Read more.
Under dynamic loading (e.g., earthquakes, extreme rainfall), multi-stage slope slumps occur as downstream slopes lose anti-sliding stability, triggering intensive lateral sediment supply that governs mountainous channel evolution. This study uses a coupled CFD-DEM model to simulate how water–sediment conditions regulate sediment transport and riverbed deformation. Results show that during the first sediment supply event, particle motion is initially slower under wet than dry conditions but accelerates due to buoyancy, with the peak average particle velocity along the gully axis decreasing by 11.5% and exhibiting negligible flow rate dependence. In the channel, higher flow rates raise particle velocity and downstream sediment flux, while a prolonged supply interval elevates peak velocity and delays its occurrence. For subsequent events, peak gully axis and vertical velocities increase with sediment supply mass, with weak dependence on flow rate or interval. Post-peak particle motion accelerates with these three factors, enhancing sediment entrainment effects. Increasing flow rate from 1.7 to 2.2 L/s, supply mass from 0.75 to 1.50 kg, and interval from 4 to 6 s significantly strengthens substrate dynamic response, with the peak average velocity rising by 78.3%, 33.3%, 67.0% and maximum displacement by 80.7%, 51.2%, 67.6%, respectively. Channel particle velocity is more sensitive to flow rate but suppressed by greater sediment mass and shorter intervals. The deposited riverbed has three zones: first-supply-dominated, mixed, and subsequent-supply-dominated. Higher flow rates restrict depositional area expansion but increase thickness, whereas greater subsequent sediment expands its dominant zone while reducing thickness, with minimal influence from supply intervals. This study offers theoretical insights for preventing water–sediment disasters in mountainous areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water-Related Disaster Assessments and Prevention)
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