Native solutions to deal with floods and exploitation of floods in Chabahar and Dashtiari county

Natural hazards, including floods, are one of the basic problems of rural settlements in Iran. Indigenous knowledge of dealing with floods and coexisting with them has existed in Iran for a long time. In this research, the effectiveness of native methods has been evaluated by examining local methods of dealing with and exploiting flood water resources and comparing them with modern methods in Dashtiari and Chabahar regions. Investigations have been done through library studies, conversations with local people, field observations and data analysis. In these areas, indigenous knowledge is used through the construction of Degaar and Hootak structures for the purpose of exploiting and building Tonpak structures in order to deal with floods and reduce the vulnerability of residential houses. These structures have the same function as check dams, flood spreading structures and dams and construction based on height code in order to reduce vulnerability. According to the investigations and results, the performance of structures based on local knowledge is more suitable in the studied area, and among them, construction on tonpaks for residential houses has created safety against flood inundation. Hotaks have worked very well in the region as a source of flood water storage for villages.