Decision Support System for flood management in Batang Arau river basin

Abstract

Flood is one of the most vulnerable disasters in Indonesia. Batang Arau river basin is located in the West Sumatra province, which is one of the areas that often experience the flood. Since 1894, a number of measures have been taken to control flooding in the Batang Arau river basin. However, until now, the incidence of flooding is still not appropriately resolved. The aim of this study is to identify the areas that had the worst impact due to flood events in the Batang Arau river basin over the past 10 years and then identify the leading causes of the flood event. After that, the Decision Support System (DSS) was carried out using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to determine the suitable measures both structural and no structural for flood control in the Batang Arau. In order to achieve these objectives, data was taken in the form of; the historical flood event over past 10 years, the factors causing flood events based on field observations and review studies, and Measures to control flood events according to experts. So that the results of this study will be able to describe short-term and long-term for flood management, which are adaptable for future flood management strategy.