New
New
Year 10
AQA

Costs and benefits of river management strategies

I can assess the costs and benefits associated with hard and soft engineering strategies used to manage river flooding.

New
New
Year 10
AQA

Costs and benefits of river management strategies

I can assess the costs and benefits associated with hard and soft engineering strategies used to manage river flooding.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Use of hard engineering strategies to manage rivers.
  2. Use of soft engineering strategies to manage rivers.
  3. There are costs and benefits associated with each type of river management strategy.

Keywords

  • Sustainable - meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

  • Hard engineering - use of artificial structures and technologies to control natural processes, such as flooding or river erosion

  • Soft engineering - uses natural processes and landscape features to reduce the risk of flooding and erosion

Common misconception

Hard engineering is always better than soft engineering.

While hard engineering can be effective, it is not always the best choice due to cost and environmental impact. Soft engineering can be more sustainable and less intrusive.


To help you plan your year 10 geography lesson on: Costs and benefits of river management strategies, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Use case studies to show real-world examples of cost-benefit analysis in action.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which process is responsible for the wearing away of the coast by wave action?
Deposition
Transportation
Correct answer: Erosion
Evaporation
Q2.
What is the correct order of a river's course from source to mouth?
Correct answer: Upper course → Middle course → Lower course
Middle course → Upper course → Lower course
Lower course → Upper course → Middle course
Source → Sea → Meander
Q3.
Which of the following landforms is created by glacial erosion?
Spit
Meander
Correct answer: U-shaped valley
Floodplain
Q4.
How is a meander formed?
By deposition only
By freezing and thawing
By wind erosion
Correct answer: By both erosion and deposition
Q5.
What is longshore drift?
The movement of glaciers downhill
Erosion by rainfall
Correct answer: The movement of sediment along a coast by wave action
Rivers flowing into the sea
Q6.
Which of the following is a glacial depositional feature?
Corrie
Correct answer: Moraine
Arete
U-shaped valley

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
What is the main goal of river management strategies?
Increase river depth
Correct answer: Reduce the risk of flooding and erosion
Improve fish populations
Build more reservoirs
Q2.
Which of the following is an example of soft engineering?
Embankments
Dams
Correct answer: Floodplain zoning
Channel straightening
Q3.
Why might soft engineering be considered more sustainable?
Correct answer: It works with natural processes and is often cheaper
It uses more concrete
It guarantees zero flood risk
It reduces river depth
Q4.
Why isn't hard engineering always the best solution?
It increases flood risk
It is illegal in many countries
Correct answer: It can be expensive and environmentally damaging
It prevents sediment from forming beaches