The EPIC Response Framework
Floods and droughts cause economic and environmental damage and incalculable human suffering every year. Climate change means they increasingly affect communities around the world. Governments work hard to tackle these challenges, yet they often regard flooding and drought as two separate issues even though they are ends of the same hydro-climatic spectrum. Deltares and the World Bank have developed the EPIC Response Framework, an innovative governance mechanism to enable the synergistic management of floods and droughts.
Natural disasters such and flooding and drought are becoming increasingly extreme, and affect billions of people around the world, often hitting vulnerable and marginalised populations disproportionately. Floods and droughts can be inhibitors of sustainable development, hindering or decimating development gains, with impacts increasingly cascade across geographies and sectors, and having inter-generational implications in equality, poverty, migration, and conflict.
Although many governments try to tackle these forms of natural disasters, their efforts are often geared to either flooding or drought, viewing the two as separate challenges. This siloed approach makes it much harder to seize key opportunities for protecting against both flood and drought hazards.
The EPIC Response Framework
The EPIC Response Framework views floods and droughts not as independent events but as interconnected extremes along the same hydro-climatic spectrum. This perspective acknowledges that both types of events can occur in the same region, sometimes in quick succession, and that their impacts are often interrelated. Adopting a holistic view, the framework aims to enhance the effectiveness of risk management strategies.
The framework aims to help governments integrate policies, strategic plans, and investments to effectively address hydro-climatic risks. It is particularly suited for countries and regions facing complex challenges related to floods and droughts, especially in the context of climate change, and emphasises inclusive governance to protect the most vulnerable populations.
The term "EPIC" is a mnemonic for the framework's key components:
- Enable: Establishing robust policies, laws, agencies, strategic plans, and information systems to support integrated flood and drought risk management.
- Plan: Developing comprehensive plans at all levels to prioritise risk mitigation and ensure coordinated action across sectors.
- Invest: Allocating resources to both green and grey infrastructure, such as healthy watersheds and resilient water resources systems, to reduce hazards.
- Control: Implementing measures to manage the use of land and water resources, thereby reducing exposure and vulnerability to hydro-climatic risks.
- Respond: Enhancing capabilities to monitor, respond to, and recover from flood and drought events effectively.
An integrated ‘whole of society’ approach
As traditional approaches often treat floods and droughts separately, this leads to fragmented efforts that may overlook the complexities and interconnections between these hazards. The EPIC Response Framework promotes a synergistic approach to managing floods and droughts, enabling governments to engage different actors in a whole-of-society effort – communities, those most vulnerable, scientists, universities, and local governments.
This integrated approach sees national governments as key enablers, facilitators, and leaders in bringing together the whole of society to achieve a common objective – a more resilient and prosper society where flood and drought risk management programs are effective and inclusive.
Implementing the EPIC Response Framework
Implementing the EPIC Response Framework involves several key steps:
National governments are at the core of countries’ capacity to deal with current and future climate extremes. At the same time, no single national government agency can independently tackle the challenges posed by hydroclimatic risks. Building a ‘joined-up government’, breaking down silos, and fostering inter-agency collaboration, is critical tackle floods and droughts.
The framework emphasises the mobilisation of society by engaging all societal sectors, from local authorities to vulnerable communities and civil society. Efforts are centred on enhancing social inclusion, strengthening local government involvement, promoting education and risk communication, and fostering open information-sharing practices.
The framework supports the development of integrated programmes that address the entire spectrum of hydro-climatic risks. These include disaster response and recovery, land and water use control, strategic infrastructure investment, and long-term planning.
EPIC Response Framework in Assam
The EPIC Response framework has already been implemented around the world, including in countries such as Egypt, Madagascar, and Comoros. It has also been applied at more local levels, for example in states like Assam in India or California in the USA, and cities like Beira in Mozambique.
In 2023, the EPIC Response Assessment Methodology (ERAM) was implemented to inform the preparation of the World Bank-financed Assam Integrated River Basin Management Programme (AIRBMP). This programme aims to reduce flood and river erosion risks in Assam, a region frequently impacted by severe flooding caused by cyclones, heavy rains, and sediment build-up from degraded watersheds. Implementing agencies, including those focused on water resources management (WRM) and disaster risk management (DRM), used ERAM to identify opportunities to work more effectively in synergy and build stronger systems for managing these challenges.
Applying the EPIC Response Assessment Methodology was instrumental in designing important institutional strengthening efforts that the World Bank will be investing for the next 10 years in Assam.
Greg Browder, Lead Water Resources Management Specialist at the World Bank
The ERAM process evaluated Assam’s current flood management systems and outlined goals for improvement by 2033. It provided clear visual tools to highlight priority areas, such as developing flood forecasting and early warning systems, and investing in a mix of traditional infrastructure and nature-based solutions like restoring riverbanks. These efforts are designed to not only mitigate the immediate risks of flooding but also deliver long-term benefits to local communities. Although challenges such as limited agency mandates and time pressures were identified, ERAM ensured that resources were directed to the areas that will have the greatest impact on building resilience.
Greg Browder: “The EPIC Response Assessment Methodology is comprehensive and innovative, delivering key insights that were both rapid and powerful.”
By 2033, Assam’s flood management systems are expected to be significantly strengthened. Enhanced early warning systems will better prepare communities for floods, while improved planning and infrastructure will reduce damage to homes, livelihoods, and the economy. The programme emphasises collaboration between WRM and DRM agencies and the involvement of local communities, ensuring that the solutions are both practical and widely supported. Assam’s approach serves as a powerful example of how targeted investments and tailored planning can effectively reduce disaster risks while fostering sustainable development.
