The AQUASOC tool

AQUASOC is an open-access online tool designed to support communities and local authorities in evaluating and managing the social impacts of floods. It guides users through a structured self-assessment process that helps to identify and assess the social impacts that flood events have had, or may have, on a community.

In parallel, the tool allows users to analyse the social capacities that exist at the local level, as well as those that need to be strengthened, in order to prevent, respond to, or reduce the impacts of floods. Based on this assessment, AQUASOC provides recommendations and priority actions aimed at improving social preparedness and resilience to flood risk.

AQUASOC is primarily aimed at municipal governments, local risk managers, and technical staff involved in flood risk management and emergency planning. It is also useful for community stakeholders, planners, and professionals working in disaster risk reduction, as well as researchers and practitioners interested in the social dimensions of flood risk. The tool helps users better understand local vulnerabilities and capacities, supporting more socially informed strategies for flood prevention, preparedness, and response.

AQUASOC was developed as part of the R&D&I research project “Tools for the prevention and management of the social impacts of floods in coastal areas.” (PID2021-122500OB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under the Spanish National State Research Plan, and coordinated by prof. Guadalupe Ortiz and Antonio Aledo (University of Alicante). It has used several national and international (USA, Italy, Brazil and Mexico) cases for data collection and analysis.

The algorithm that runs AQUASOC is based on the network analysis presented in Ortiz, G., Aledo, A., Aznar-Crespo, P., & Mañas-Navarro, J. J. (2025). Connecting social impacts and social capacities for flood risk management and disaster risk reduction. Journal of Risk Research, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2025.2553078. The data base is also open-access and accessible at http://hdl.handle.net/10045/149866