via Bangkok Post, 27 October 2022: One suggestion from the heritage-based suggestions for flood mitigation in Ayutthaya was the revival of ancient canals and ponds. The editorial also highlights some other examples in Thailand.
In a similar vein, “heritage-based solutions” can also help. Heritage includes both our natural and cultural assets. So heritage-based solutions rely on nature as well as cultural know-how. Historic buildings, settlements and landscapes were designed based on a deep understanding of pre-existing natural systems related to land, water and climate. Traditional water management systems relied on the slope of the land, gravity, and the seasonal ebb and flow of water to function, with the aid of basic mechanics. This is in sharp contrast to a contemporary engineering mentality, which goes to great lengths to overcome the forces of nature, often in ways that are ultimately unsustainable.
Following the catastrophic floods that engulfed the Ayutthaya World Heritage site for over a month in 2011, Unesco supported the Thai government’s Hydro Informatics Institute and Fine Arts Department to work alongside hydrological experts from the Netherlands to find solutions. One of their recommendations was to revive the ancient network of ponds and canals in the historic capital to increase the city’s capacity to temporarily store water in times of acute flooding.
