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Reflecting on the Assessment of Flood Hazard – Torrential Flow (EAIAT)

16 March, 2026

The University of Cauca took a pioneering step in the training of professionals committed to risk management and community resilience by inaugurating the elective course Flood Hazard Assessment – Torrential Flow (EAIAT) within its Master’s Degree in Hydraulic and Hydrological Engineering. This academic space seeks to go beyond the technical dimension to integrate science, social awareness, and adaptation to climate change in a territory marked by its close relationship with water.

When speaking of floods and torrential flows, the first image that usually comes to mind is marked by destruction: streets covered in water and mud, homes swept away, families losing everything in a matter of seconds. However, beyond the visible force of the phenomenon, these expressions of water invite us to reflect on their complexity. They are not merely hydrological or geomorphological processes; they also reflect a shared history between territory, climate, the environment, and the communities that inhabit it.

Collective memory is shaped by major events that have left their mark, events we remember by names and dates that define generations: Bilbao, Spain, in 1983; Armero, Colombia, in 1985; Páez, Colombia, in 1994 and 2007–2008; Vargas, Venezuela, in 1999; Mocoa, Colombia, in 2017; Copiapó, Chile, in 2015; Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 2024; Valencia, Spain, in 2024; or Texas, United States, in 2025. Each of these events shows that hazard knows no borders or levels of development, and that it is a global issue that challenges all societies.

In this context, during the second semester of 2025, the elective course Flood Hazard Assessment – Torrential Flow was created within the Master’s Program in Hydraulic and Hydrological Engineering. It may be said that the first brick has been laid in an academic process that seeks to go beyond the merely technical and to educate professionals with social awareness and a comprehensive vision of risk. The commitment is to extend this course to the undergraduate level as well, with the intention of becoming pioneers in higher education in southwestern Colombia, where the relationship between communities and water is as close as it is challenging.

This effort is not isolated. It is framed within the work of the Research Group in Hydraulics and Hydrology, which has built a solid trajectory of analysis and proposals for water resource management and the risks associated with it. In addition, the HidroInnovación student research group has, since its creation, built bridges between academia and vulnerable communities, drawing closer to their realities, listening to their needs, and developing projects that integrate science, innovation, and social commitment. Through these interactions, bonds are woven that go beyond the classroom, because knowledge acquires its true meaning when it helps transform the lives of those who need it most.

Reflecting on flood and torrential flow hazards does not merely involve describing figures, discharge rates, or return periods. It is essential to recognize the role played by both structural mitigation measures, such as large dams, levees, channelization works, dynamic barriers, and retaining structures, which seek to directly reduce physical exposure to risk. However, international experience has shown that none of these solutions is sufficient on its own. For this reason, non-structural measures acquire equal relevance: evacuation plans, early warning systems, land-use planning, hazard, vulnerability, and risk studies and designs, as well as community education in risk management. Only the integration of both dimensions allows for the true construction of resilience.

A key aspect of this debate is uncertainty. Every hydrological, hydraulic, or modeling calculation entails an unavoidable margin of error, derived from data quality, model assumptions, and climate variability. Attempting to eliminate it is both a technical and ethical mistake. It is more sensible to accept that uncertainty will always be present, and therefore planning must acknowledge the possibility of extreme scenarios. This implies assuming that any structure, no matter how large or sophisticated, can be overtopped by flow, and that in such cases communities will remain exposed. Preparing the population to coexist with that vulnerability and respond effectively thus becomes a fundamental axis of risk management.

Ultimately, reflecting on flood and torrential flow hazards means recognizing that behind every event there are faces, memories, and territories that are forever changed. It means acknowledging that higher education has the responsibility to prepare professionals capable of reading these realities in all their complexity, while at the same time committing to the construction of resilience, risk management, and adaptation to climate change.

The reflection remains open, because the question is not how to prevent these events from ever occurring again, we know that water will always reclaim its spaces. The real question is how to be prepared, understanding that costs will be inevitable, but that collective resilience will enable us to confront them with greater strength and with a transformative vision for our communities and territories.