The most traditional means for regulating flow is by the use of dam-and-reservoir systems, where a dam blocking a river

creates a reservoir (man-made lake) behind it. An operator can choose how much flow leaves the reservoir by a means of a spillway or pipe. Oftentimes reservoirs are important for storing water during the wet months (winter-spring in the Northern hemisphere) to be released during the dry months for municipal, industrial or agricultural use. The advantage of a reservoir is that downstream flow can be controlled up to the point where the reservoir is full. Reducing the amount of development within the floodplain can reduce the damage caused by a large-magnitude flood. If all the houses and valuable development were removed from the floodplain, very little damage to infrastructure or private property would occur even if the river were to rise significantly. Some places are adopting a strategy of buying up all the land within the floodplain to prevent development there. This doesn't reduce flooding, but it reduces flood damage. Reducing impervious surfaces (like pavement and houses) within the catchment reduces the amount of runoff that occurs during a storm event, thereby reducing the amount of water that is immediately restored to the streams. "Flashy" streams are generally small, urban streams which course through largely impervious areas. These streams tend to rise quickly in the event of a storm since none of the water percolates into the soil and instead runs off. On-line or off-line water storage; that is, a diversion from the main stream that can be opened if the flow exceeds a certain flood level. When diverted the flow can go somewhere innocuous and the main stream reach will not flood as much. Levees or dikes are used in some places to create a wall between the rising water and valuable things behind them (such as New Orleans.) Limiting stormwater discharge to streams from cities, towns or agriculture by means of lowimpact development (LID) can reduce the overall streamflow and therefore the amount of flooding that occurs. These intake points intercept rainwater from open channels and underground drainage pipes (Fig 1 and 2). The water discharges via the main tunnel by gravity to the sea.

http://www.tunneltalk.com/HongKong-Sep11-West-drainage-scheme-almost-complete.php

When there is heavy rain, combined sewers cannot always hold all of the storm water, and sewer flooding occurs. In these cases engineering solutions are often used to try to stop sewer flooding from happening again in future. These types of solution are considered low risk and from an engineering perspective are relatively easy to deliver. But, they tackle the symptoms and not the causes of flooding. In the future, particularly as climate change increases the intensity of rainstorms, the capacity of many parts of our current drainage systems will be insufficient to meet needs. Building bigger sewers to cope with higher flows is unlikely to be a sustainable solution. It would be very expensive and in extreme weather conditions the sewers and downstream rivers would still be overwhelmed. Managing demand for drainage by using more natural drainage processes or encouraging more efficient use of drains and sewers are potential alternative a`pproaches, but they also come with different risks.

http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/future/sustainable/drainage Strategies for Natural Flood Management (NFM) Natural Flood Management aims to reduce the downstream maximum water height of a flood the peak or delay the arrival of the flood peak downstream, increasing the time available to prepare. This is done by restricting the progress of water through a catchment and relies on one, or a combination of four key mechanisms which work with the environment to provide a sustainable solution to the problem: Storing water such as ponds, ditches and field attenuation bunds Increasing soil infiltration through the creation of infiltration zones to help water get into the soil at certain locations, for example tree belts. Slowing water by increasing resistance to its flow, for example planting in the floodplain or riverside woodland

Redirecting the water by channeling it away from the main flow into temporary water storage areas or buffer zones to hold the water back until the flood peak drops or restoring river meanders. This increases the length of the river and decreases its slope, slowing down the flow http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/item/natural-engineering-offers-solutionagainst-future-flooding