Protecting the Danube from flooding

Flood risk increases with ongoing climate change. Risk reduction can only be achieved through transnational, interdisciplinary and stakeholderoriented approaches.

Any future-oriented risk management strategy needs joint methods, databases, and a combined approach on assessing and coping with risk. To implement this combination of measures, upstream and downstream regions have to cooperate on transboundary issues. The proposed Danube flood Risk Project will combine top-down and bottom-up approaches to focus on the most cost-effective measures for flood mitigation: risk assessment, risk mapping and risk reduction by adequate spatial
planning.

All the countries along the Danube have separated models and their own methods for flood prevention not to mention different priorities for mitigation measures. However, many regions suffer from lack of risk information for planners, population and decision makers. The Danube Flood Risk Project will bring together scientists, public servants, NGOs and stakeholders to jointly develop a scalable system of flood risk maps for the Danube. This will result in proposals for flood mitigation measures, the adjustment of spatial development plans, assessment tools for economic development in flood plains and raised awareness of flood risk in decision makers, politicians, planners and the public. In addition, this project will also help local administrations tackle their own specific flooding challenges.

Industries at risk like power stations and supply infrastructure will play a key role in the project. Pilot areas include flood risk in large cities (Vienna, Austria), planning high risk industrial platforms (Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plants in Bulgaria), harbour sites, a large port and naval constructor (Galati, Romania) and other smaller localities in prone areas.

Success is possible only through joint efforts. This project will involve all relevant organisations to guarantee political implementation. Partners for the project include national and regional authorities responsible for environment, water management and spatial planning, non-governmental organisations and research institutions. Observers from Germany, the Czech Republic and the ICPDR will provide experience with similar approaches. A bonus generated by this partnership is that all these organisations work on flood risk mitigation measures but none would be able to harmonise an approach alone.

Physical measures for flood risk mitigation are comparatively ineffective unless integrated. The most cost-effective approach is cooperation in the fields of information, mitigation and flood risk.

Mary-Jeanne Adler is the Director of the Emergency Situation Management at the Directorate Ministry of Environment and Water Management.