Methodology to Support Decisions for Flooding Control Measures in the City of São Paulo, Brazil

Like other megacities São Paulo City has many infrastructure problems. One of them are the summer floods. This problem has been studied for years considering structural and non-structural measures. Many studies have shown that the investments required to reduce flooding throughout the city are very massive. This paper presents a methodology developed to the São Paulo City Hall to support decisions on flooding control investments, in other words, how the city hall can establish a criterion to prioritize the construction of flooding control works considering its multiple impacts. Basically, the methodology is based on the flood reduction in very critical areas. Applying some models it was possible to produce flood maps and to define areas that flood frequently. In general, these critical areas are located near the rivers in its floodplains, occupied by houses, streets, avenues, and other important uses. The case study presented here is the Uberaba River Basin, located in the central region of the city with many flooding-prone areas.