Webinar Summary - Advances in Modeling Floods from Dam and Dike Failures
The IAHR Technical Committee on Flood Risk Management organized on October 28, 2025 its second webinar, “Wading into Floods from Dam and Dike Failures” attracting more than 600 participants from around the world. The recording is now available in the IAHR Video Library.
Chaired by Stefan Haun (chair of the technical committee), Kamal El Kadi Abderrezzak (member of the committee and chair of IAHR’s Working Group on Reservoir Sedimentation), Daniela Molinari (past chair of the technical committee), and Cesar Alvarado Ancieta (vice chair of the technical committee), the session explored the complex processes of dam and levee failures and how new modeling tools can improve flood risk management and resilience.
In his opening remarks, Kamal El Kadi Abderrezzak highlighted that, while embankment dams and fluvial dikes provide critical benefits such as flood protection, river channelization, and water storage, they remain vulnerable to failure. Causes of breach can include inadequate maintenance, insufficient rehabilitation, wildlife activity, and exposure to extreme events such as droughts or overflowing. He stressed that a thorough understanding of dike breach mechanisms is essential for accurately predicting flood hazards, guiding emergency response, and designing effective mitigation strategies. The webinar showcased recent advances in physically based models and large-scale numerical simulations that can better anticipate the effects of structural failure.
Weiming Wu (Clarkson University, USA) presented DLBreach, a simplified physically based model that simulates the breaching of earthen dams and levees caused by overflowing and internal erosion. The model efficiently reproduces key breach characteristics and has been integrated into HEC-RAS, offering a practical tool for dam-break analysis and safety assessment.
Renato Vacondio and Susanna Dazzi (University of Parma, Italy) presented the ParFlood model, a high-resolution, two-dimensional numerical tool capable of simulating large-scale, breach-induced floods using GPU acceleration. Their case studies in Italy demonstrated the model’s ability to accurately reproduce real inundation events and to support both emergency planning and long-term risk assessment. The speakers also proposed a “resilience methodology” based on pre-simulated scenarios to assist civil protection agencies in managing real-time flood emergencies.
Tomasz Dysarz (Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland), a member of the technical committee’s leadership team, presented a study on the Stare Miasto Reservoir, analyzing potential internal dam failure scenarios and their effects on reservoir safety. His research highlighted how numerical modeling can effectively support dam operation and risk evaluation even in smaller hydraulic systems.
The Q&A session provided an opportunity to address a selection of questions posed by the audience. Closing the event, the chairs thanked the speakers for their contributions and reaffirmed IAHR’s role in connecting science and practice. The discussions underscored that integrating advanced modeling tools with field data and risk management frameworks is vital for building flood resilience worldwide.
The first flood risk management webinar on extreme flood events in Latam, Europe and Asia was held on March 20, 2025.
About the technical committee
The IAHR Technical Committee on Flood Risk Management was established in 2015 to address the growing challenges of flooding driven by rapid urbanization, land-use changes, and climate change. It provides a platform for advancing practical, interdisciplinary solutions through research, dialogue, and collaboration with other associations. The Committee’s work spans prevention, protection, preparedness, emergency response, recovery, and long-term resilience to support sustainable flood management worldwide.