by Jery R. Stedinger
December, 2004

It is a great pleasure to accept this award on behalf of my own efforts and that of my graduate students and other colleagues with whom I have worked to advance the field of effective flood control and flood risk management.

In accepting this award I first wish to express by gratitude to

His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz,
The Prince Sultan Research Center for Environment, Water & Desert,
and King Saud University

for their creation of this award, for pursuing its administration, and for the hospitality they have shown me and other award winners. I know also that Dr. Herman Bouwer wanted very much to attend, but his health did not permit a trip of the length required.

I also wish to thank my graduate students who have worked so hard to produced the research and ideas that are recognized today, as well as other colleagues and friends around the world with whom I have worked to improve the scientific basis for flood frequency analysis and flood risk assessment.

I would also like to take this opportunity to complement His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz and the Research Center for Environment, Water & Desert for their foresight in creating this international prize.

Those of us here appreciate the value and the power of water. While in the arid climate of the Middle East, one expects almost everyone to have that understanding, it is not shared by all people in all places. In fact a danger in much of the western world is that the success of technology has caused our citizens to assume that clean water in the needed amounts will always be available, and that floods and drought can always be controlled. But it is not true; it is particularly not true on a planet whose climate will be changing.

Much of the Middle East is an arid land known for its lack of water. And water is essential for life as we know it on earth. Drinking water is the clearest and simplest vision. But water is essential for agricultural crops as well as the plants and animals that make up the ecosystems found in any landscape

. A growing area of scientific investigation addresses the interaction of water resources and ecosystem functions and values. How societies manage ground and surface water, as well as major water resource projects, will increasingly determine the health of natural ecosystems around the world. In my own country we are placing greater emphasis on the role of wetlands as the nurseries for many bird and aquatic species, as well as sinks for pollutants, and as areas that attenuate flood peaks and provide for groundwater recharge.

Traditional water resource issues, and the talks we will hear this week, address water supply for communities, and industrial and ecological uses, as well as effective flood control, and perhaps also navigation, fisheries, the health of aquatic ecosystems, and hydropower operations.

Consider for a moment the concept of flood control. A dream of many civil engineers has been to build large storage projects and dams that can control the floods on mighty rivers. But God is sometimes too great and flood waters will overwhelm the works of men represented by even the largest reservoir. Levees and flood walls can also provide some protection. But they are more brittle than reservoirs and can break when overtopped, thus having provided a false sense of protection to floodplain occupants.

Thus some enlightened planners now encourage us to expand our concept for flood control into a framework of flood risk management.

Flood risk management seeks to assess the risk of flooding so as to avoid unwise and ill-advised use of floodplains, and thus as a result of intentional planning to minimize the vulnerability of people and property when floodplains are developed. We would also prepare to mitigate damages when floods occur, as well as to protect and enhance the ecosystems and other natural resources that riverine environments support.

Management of a nation’s water resources for the benefit of its people, and the wise use and preservation of a nation’s natural resources, is a great calling. I commend again His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, and The Prince Sultan Research Center for Environment, Water & Desert, for their leadership in recognizing the global importance of water resources management and the international value of research that allows us to improve our understanding of the hydrologic sciences upon which water resources management depends.

Finally, I thank each of you very much for this honor and your attention.