16 Highlights and Lessons from the Implementation of an Early …
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and thus generate multiple benefits. For the “Glaciares 513” project, a set of complementary measures were considered and evaluated with different government
institutions: the construction of an additional tunnel system through the bedrock
dam 30 m lower than the existing ones, with the possibility to control the discharge and further reduce GLOF risk and create reservoir capacity to release
water during the dry season; a monitoring of slope stability in the surrounding of
the lake with spaceborne radar interferometry (InSAR); or further climate change
adaptation measures supported by local communities.
The identification of strengths and deficiencies is of importance since this pilot
experience is used as a major reference for similar EWS at the national scale in
Peru. A second phase of the project, called “Glaciares + . Risk Management and
the Productive Use of Water from Glaciers”, started in November 2015 aiming at
completing and providing continuity to the incomplete processes from first phase
(especially the implementation of adaptation measures to the EWS) while support
to further EWS in other catchments will be provided. In order to overcome the
difficulties encountered during the “Glaciares 513” project, this second phase is
conceived to strengthen public management related to the issue of GLOFs, stress
the legal framework as well as the planning, implementation, and monitoring of this
kind of project.
The appropriate identification of technical, social, or institutional aspects to be
improved is going to entitle the main leaders in the design of more robust, efficient,
and resilient projects related to glacier’s risk management.
16.5 Conclusions
In the context of the project “Glaciares 513”, an early warning system was designed
and implemented at Laguna 513 of the Cordillera Blanca (Ancash, Peru). The main
objective was to provide the potentially affected communities with an integrated
tool to reduce GLOF-related risks, most importantly to avoid any loss of live. The
presented EWS is a nonstructural measure, lowering the risk by reducing the damage potential through evacuation of the population in case of an outburst. It was
elaborated according to international and national standards, and consisted in the
four standard components of an EWS: (i) Risk Knowledge through the modeling
of GLOF events and the elaboration of hazard maps, following international standards (cf. Schneider et al. 2014); (ii) Monitoring and Warning Service, with the
physical components of the system, that is the ensemble of sensors, stations, and
broadcasters that detect and transmit hazard parameters to generate warnings in a
timely fashion; (iii) Dissemination and Communication, through the establishment
of an action plan and protocols for the management of the information generated
during the detection of potentially hazardous events; (iv) Response Capability of
affected population, carried out through educational programs and the performance
of evacuation simulations.
197
and thus generate multiple benefits. For the “Glaciares 513” project, a set of complementary measures were considered and evaluated with different government
institutions: the construction of an additional tunnel system through the bedrock
dam 30 m lower than the existing ones, with the possibility to control the discharge and further reduce GLOF risk and create reservoir capacity to release
water during the dry season; a monitoring of slope stability in the surrounding of
the lake with spaceborne radar interferometry (InSAR); or further climate change
adaptation measures supported by local communities.
The identification of strengths and deficiencies is of importance since this pilot
experience is used as a major reference for similar EWS at the national scale in
Peru. A second phase of the project, called “Glaciares + . Risk Management and
the Productive Use of Water from Glaciers”, started in November 2015 aiming at
completing and providing continuity to the incomplete processes from first phase
(especially the implementation of adaptation measures to the EWS) while support
to further EWS in other catchments will be provided. In order to overcome the
difficulties encountered during the “Glaciares 513” project, this second phase is
conceived to strengthen public management related to the issue of GLOFs, stress
the legal framework as well as the planning, implementation, and monitoring of this
kind of project.
The appropriate identification of technical, social, or institutional aspects to be
improved is going to entitle the main leaders in the design of more robust, efficient,
and resilient projects related to glacier’s risk management.
16.5 Conclusions
In the context of the project “Glaciares 513”, an early warning system was designed
and implemented at Laguna 513 of the Cordillera Blanca (Ancash, Peru). The main
objective was to provide the potentially affected communities with an integrated
tool to reduce GLOF-related risks, most importantly to avoid any loss of live. The
presented EWS is a nonstructural measure, lowering the risk by reducing the damage potential through evacuation of the population in case of an outburst. It was
elaborated according to international and national standards, and consisted in the
four standard components of an EWS: (i) Risk Knowledge through the modeling
of GLOF events and the elaboration of hazard maps, following international standards (cf. Schneider et al. 2014); (ii) Monitoring and Warning Service, with the
physical components of the system, that is the ensemble of sensors, stations, and
broadcasters that detect and transmit hazard parameters to generate warnings in a
timely fashion; (iii) Dissemination and Communication, through the establishment
of an action plan and protocols for the management of the information generated
during the detection of potentially hazardous events; (iv) Response Capability of
affected population, carried out through educational programs and the performance
of evacuation simulations.