Adjusting to floods on the Brahmaputra plains, Assam, India

This case study documents and assesses the local and/or traditional practices of communities which culture, customs, beliefs, indigenous knowledge systems and skills have enabled them to survive water stresses and cope with hazards and disasters over the long term in the flood plains of the Brahmaputra basin of eastern Assam, India. The study sites have a long history of water-induced stresses and the vulnerability and adaptability of the communities to water-induced hazards such as floods, flash floods, river bank erosion, and land degradation caused by sand deposition.

This report is one case study out of five studies of local responses to climate related water stress and floods. The central objective of this series of case studies "Documenting and assessing adaptation strategies to too much, too little water" is to document adaptation strategies at local or community level to constraints and hazards related to water and induced by climate change in the Himalayan region, including how people are affected by water stress and hazards, their local short and long-term responses, and the extent to which these strategies reduce vulnerability to water stress and hazards.