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Minimising flood risks in Europe through better planning

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Subido el 25 de julio de 2007 por EducaMadrid

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The new directive on the assessment and management of floods aims to counter the growing threat from floods and minimise their damaging impacts on people, the environment, infrastructure and property. It focuses on long-term prevention, protection and preparedness. The VNR focuses on the Danube, Europe's largest river basin in Europe. Between Vienna and Bratislava the risk of flooding has been reduced by allowing the river to reclaim the wet forests along the Danube National Park, upstream from the Slovak capital. Not only are the two cities now better protected from flooding but nature and tourism in the region are also flourishing.

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Between 1998 and 2004, Europe suffered over a hundred major floods. 00:00:00
They caused some 700 deaths, the displacement of half a million people, 00:00:07
and at least 25 billion euros in insured economic losses. 00:00:11
Once again this year, the Elbe flooded, and the Danube literally smashed its record, 00:00:16
reaching levels never before seen in Budapest. 00:00:21
Increasingly often, the danger of flooding originates in the mountains, 00:00:25
when torrential rains provoke flash floods, which are extremely destructive, 00:00:29
mainly in the semi-arid zones of the Mediterranean basin. 00:00:35
Floods are closely linked with climate change and therefore with pollution. 00:00:40
Scientists agree that because of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, 00:00:45
the temperature is rising, and rising temperatures mean significant evaporations. 00:00:48
It's true that with climate change we expect the rain to become increasingly intense, 00:00:55
because as it gets warmer, there's more water vapor in the air, 00:01:01
and if conditions are such that it rains, the rain will become more intense. 00:01:05
So if the rain becomes more intense and the ground can't absorb it all, 00:01:10
the risk of flooding increases. 00:01:13
In addition to the risk presented by flooding rivers, 00:01:18
we know that the sea levels are rising because of the higher temperatures brought about by pollution. 00:01:21
More seriously, according to climatic models, even if CO2 emissions are greatly reduced, 00:01:27
the sea levels will continue to rise. 00:01:32
It will probably increase by 20 centimeters to 1 meter during the 21st century, 00:01:37
because of water dilation, and because the glaciers are all melting now. 00:01:42
And so the rise in sea levels increases the risk of flooding in all the coastal zones, 00:01:47
and a large part of Europe is surrounded by coastline. 00:01:53
In concrete terms, this part of the English Channel, 00:01:57
bordering the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom, for example, 00:02:00
is an area which would be inundated by water if the sea rises just 1 meter and no modifications are made. 00:02:03
Floods pose a major threat to Europe and its citizens, 00:02:10
and a threat that does not in any way respect borders. 00:02:16
Flood risk to citizens, their property, infrastructure, but also the environment, does not know any boundaries. 00:02:20
Therefore it is a reason that Europe jointly acts against floods and prevents further damage. 00:02:27
The European Union has adopted a directive on the assessment and management of floods, 00:02:35
legislation which imposes three-step measures on member states. 00:02:40
First the authorities must identify flood risk areas, 00:02:45
then they must establish flood risk maps, 00:02:48
and then define flood risk management plans centered on prevention, preparation and protection. 00:02:51
Top of the list of zones at risk is the Danube. 00:02:59
From Germany to Moldavia, its flood plain covers 18 European countries 00:03:02
and an area of 810,000 square kilometers. 00:03:06
In terms of flood prevention, the stretch of river between Vienna and Bratislava could serve as a model. 00:03:11
Here, last century, man wanted to tame the river 00:03:20
and constructed dikes along its main branch with these rocks. 00:03:23
As a result, the river is too narrow and has become dangerous with a very strong current. 00:03:27
The other smaller branches of the river were stopped up, 00:03:32
and this explains why there is no current and deep erosion. 00:03:35
If it rains heavily, the river regularly floods. 00:03:39
Those are the two highest flood peaks we had here in Austria in the last 100 years. 00:03:42
That one was concerning the whole area upstream from here. 00:03:49
The flood of the year 2002 had just its origin in the northern parts of Austria 00:03:57
and was limited more or less to the Austrian stretch of the Danube. 00:04:04
The frequency of flooding from the river justifies the studies 00:04:10
which have already been undertaken on the Danube and its tributaries. 00:04:13
Maps of zones at risk exist already and are similar to those drawn up by the European Commission. 00:04:17
You see here the going up of the flood discharge. 00:04:23
Here we have 100 cubic meters per second, 00:04:27
now reaching 200 cubic meters per second, 00:04:30
and the flood extent is going to its utmost extent. 00:04:33
Flooding here, houses in the neighborhood of the river, 00:04:38
here some industries in the neighborhood of the river. 00:04:43
This map, for example, allows a line to be drawn 00:04:48
showing the limits that should not be exceeded for building works. 00:04:51
Risk maps like this, prescribed in the European Directive on the Evaluation and Management of Floods, 00:04:57
will allow the necessary land management measures to be undertaken. 00:05:02
Another example of what needs to be done already exists on the Danube. 00:05:07
Along 40 kilometers of its banks upstream from Vienna, 00:05:11
a natural park serves as an absorption zone in case of flooding. 00:05:14
The park is accessible to tourists who explore its well-marked paths 00:05:19
which are constructed from durable materials, 00:05:23
allowing them to be submerged by the waters. 00:05:26
There are information centers, maps and brochures. 00:05:29
The threat of flooding has been transformed into an advantage for the region. 00:05:32
But that's not all. 00:05:37
To tame the river, projects to modify the banks have also been undertaken, 00:05:38
jointly with the authorities of the Danube, the National Park and the Austrian government. 00:05:42
The idea of the project is quite simple. 00:05:47
The idea is to remove the hard structures on the embankment. 00:05:49
We started in October 2005 to remove all the big stones on this side of the Danube. 00:05:53
And the goal of the project is to give the river the chance for large-scale dynamic processes. 00:05:59
So in case of flood, the river has the possibility to widen and to flood large areas of the flood plain. 00:06:06
The project, which is co-financed by the European Union, 00:06:17
exploits the powerful currents in the river and does not interfere with navigation. 00:06:20
By simply removing the stones of the old banks, 00:06:25
the river quite naturally reconquers its previous territories by erosion. 00:06:27
These new banks are natural habitats for many vegetable and animal species 00:06:33
and at the same time the river gets a spectacular increase in capacity. 00:06:37
As you can see from the green sticks which are situated in the old embankment, 00:06:43
two flood events were enough that the Danube is now 20 meters broader than it was before. 00:06:49
At the same time, some old branches of the river have been opened up 00:06:56
and can once again meander through the wetlands. 00:06:59
In this way, the load on the main artery of the river is lightened, 00:07:03
which is the objective if flooding is to be prevented. 00:07:06
Here, the new Danube is taking on the look of the jungle that's bursting with life forms 00:07:10
which are a major attraction in the park. 00:07:14
The beaver, which disappeared about 100 years ago, was reintroduced in 1967. 00:07:19
Since then, it's reoccupied its territory and there are about 1200 of them in the park. 00:07:26
Here we have a clear trace of the beaver's teeth marks as it tried to fell this tree. 00:07:36
He wants to chop it down to allow him to access the juicy branches and the leaves. 00:07:43
A survey of the number of birds of prey is underway throughout the park 00:07:50
as they're an indication of the quality of the environment. 00:07:54
The icing on the cake is that the Danube National Park has a complete section dedicated to education. 00:07:59
Like the Danube, all Europe's major rivers flow through several countries, 00:08:05
which is why the new directive on the management of flood risks 00:08:09
obliges member states to work together to exchange information on floods 00:08:12
and coordinate their prevention efforts. 00:08:17
What's more, the directive intends to make this information accessible to all Europe's citizens. 00:08:21
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Idioma/s:
en
Niveles educativos:
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      • Nivel Intermedio
Autor/es:
The European Union
Subido por:
EducaMadrid
Licencia:
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
Visualizaciones:
665
Fecha:
25 de julio de 2007 - 12:17
Visibilidad:
Público
Enlace Relacionado:
European Commission
Duración:
08′ 27″
Relación de aspecto:
4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
Resolución:
448x336 píxeles
Tamaño:
43.51 MBytes

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