Socio-Hydrological Dynamics in Bangladesh Understanding the Interaction Between Hydrological and Social Processes Along the Jamuna Floodplain

1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Societal relevance and selection of case study
1.3 Concepts and theories
1.4 Research objectives
1.5 Thesis outline

2 Socio-hydrological spaces in the Jamuna River floodplain in Bangladesh
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Patterns in the socio-hydrology of floodplains: fight or adapt
2.3 Socio-hydrological spaces defined
2.4 Research approach
2.5 Results step 1: identification of socio-hydrological spaces along the Jamuna River
2.6 Results step 2: evidence of socio-hydrological spaces along the Jamuna River
2.7 Discussion
2.8 Conclusions

3 The levee effect along the Jamuna River in Bangladesh
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Literature review: the levee effect
3.3 Study area
3.4 Research approach
3.5 Results
3.6 Discussion
3.7 Conclusions

4 The Costs of Living with Floods in the Jamuna Floodplain in Bangladesh
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Case study
4.3 Data and methods
4.4 Results
4.5 Discussion and conclusions

5 The interplay between structural flood protection, population density and flood mortality along the Jamuna River
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Study area
5.3 Data and methods
5.4 Results
5.5 Discussion
5.6 Conclusions

6 Conclusions
6.1 Knowledge added to socio-hydrological studies and limitations to the research
6.2 Synthesis of the research
6.3 Policy relevance for flood risk management

Appendices
Appendix A: Questionnaire for household survey
Appendix B: Agenda for Focus Group Discussion with livelihood groups
Appendix C: Statistical analysis to test differences between the SHSs
Appendix D: Detail data and method of the levee effect analysis
Appendix E: Questionnaire for primary data collection for urban areas
Appendix F: Detail data and method of the costs of living with floods
Appendix G: Statistical analysis of the costs of living with floods
Appendix H: Supplementary analysis of the costs of living with floods

Biography

Md Ruknul Ferdous was born in Dinajpur, Bangladesh in 1980. He studied Water Resources Engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he graduated in 2005. He completed a Master of Science in Water Science and Engineering (Specialization: Hydrology and Water Resources) at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands in 2014.

From 2005 to 2014, M. R. Ferdous worked at CEGIS, a public trust under the Ministry of Water Resources, Bangladesh as a Water Resources Expert and River Morphologist. In this capacity, he became involved in research that combined insights from hydrology, river morphology, water management, climate change and environmental studies. He worked in a number of projects in which he used such insights to help develop flood forecasting systems, produce vulnerability assessments, develop ways to adapt to natural hazards and climate change. He also engaged in environmental and social impact assessment of flood management projects in Bangladesh.

In 2014, he started his PhD research at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands and the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands under the program "Hydro-Social Deltas: Understanding flows of water and people to improve policies and strategies for disaster risk reduction and sustainable development of delta areas in the Netherlands and Bangladesh". His research interests are human-water interactions, hydrology, flood and river bank erosion, and river morphology.