The Legal and Organizational Framework for Flood Crisis Management in Djelfa: Effectiveness and Limitation

Chouarani, Lamia Nafissa

The Legal and Organizational Framework for Flood Crisis Management in Djelfa: Effectiveness and Limitation

Chouarani, Lamia Nafissa

URI: http://dspace.univ-djelfa.dz:8080/xmlui/handle/112/8485

Date: 2026

Abstract:

This study evaluates the institutional framework for flood risk management in Djelfa Commune, examining the shift from the reactive model of Law 04-20 to the proactive, resilience-based approach of Law 24-04. Utilizing the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), the research reveals a severe spatial conflict between urban planning tools (PDAU/POS) and hydrological realities, as high-density developments encroach upon statutory river easements. Field diagnostics expose structural bottlenecks in the drainage network, a regulatory void due to the lack of a Flood Risk Prevention Plan (PPRI), and institutional fragmentation that cripples the ORSEC Plan during flash floods. To enhance urban resilience, the study advocates for enforcing non-aedificandi zones, adopting Nature-Based Solutions (NbS), and integrating a shared Web-GIS decision-support system.

Description:

This master’s thesis, it has performed an extensive analysis of spatial, legal and institutional flooding crisis management within the Djelfa Commune, in which it has compared the abstract Norwegian national doctrine for risk management with the tangible deficiencies of the urban environment of the Djelfa Commune. By utilizing empirical geographic analyses and public policy analyses together, the research confirms that repeated crises caused by flash flooding within the Djelfa Commune are fundamentally structural in nature; i.e., that they result from a systemic disconnect between dynamic hydrologic processes and rigid master planning practices, as well as fragmented institutional governance. The findings of the spatial and physical analysis validated the first hypothesis (H1) that the semi-arid climate and unique geomorphological characteristics of Djelfa Commune contribute to its being a closed syncline which contributes to rapid surface run-off during episodic and very intense convective storms. Thus, the naturally hazardous conditions of flash flooding are significantly increased due to human actions; e.g., the rapid population growth within the Djelfa Commune over the last 30 years has resulted in massive soil impermeability and caused large changes to how land is used in the Djelfa Commune. We found that human actions cause significant spatial conflicts to arise because of formal planning tools including: master plans (PDAUs) and permitting zoning ordinances (POS) which authorize urban expand and the construction of infrastructure in the original drainage corridors and to replace very necessary permeable drainage channels with rigid concrete bases and legally encroaching into the statutory floodway easements. In addition, the legal and operational diagnostics confirmed that there was significant strength behind the second and third hypotheses (H2 and H3) - which demonstrate that despite Law No. 04-20 creating the theoretical framework with regards to Water Resource Management being structurally absent at the local level; there are no localized, updated regulatory by-laws pertaining to semi-arid climate conditions. The governance of risk in Djelfa is severely impacted by massive institutional fragmentation and widespread administrative siloing within government departments. The empirical field stage of this study highlighted these limits through the extreme level of information asymmetry and bureaucratic defensive behaviour observed within both the National Office of Sanitation (ONA) and the Directorate of Water Resources (DRE). The chronic lack of accessible technical data, together with a reliance upon outdated documentation and the lack of a binding Flood Risk Prevention Plan (PPRI), prevents municipal authorities from having any enforceable spatial mechanisms. Therefore, where convective storms produce immediate structural blockades upon the primary national transport corridors (RN 01 and RN 46), the Emergency Relief Plan (ORSEC) executions occur at lower levels of management entirely reactively as opposed to proactively in relation to local rescue operations.

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