he Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007
on the assessment and management of flood risks (EFD) aims at the reduction of the adverse
consequences for human health, the environment, cultural heritage and economic activity
associated with floods in the Community. This task is to be achieved based on three process
steps (1) preliminary flood risk assessment (finalised by the end of 2011), (2) flood hazard
maps and flood risk maps (due 2013) and (3) flood risk management plans (due
2015).
Currently, an interdisciplinary national working group is defining the methodological
framework for flood risk management plans in Austria supported by a constant exchange with
international bodies and experts. Referring to the EFD the components of the flood risk
management plan are (excerpt):
1. conclusions of the preliminary flood risk assessment
2. flood hazard maps and flood risk maps and the conclusions that can be drawn from
those maps
3. a description of the appropriate objectives of flood risk management
4. a summary of measures and their prioritisation aiming to achieve the appropriate
objectives of flood risk management
The poster refers to some of the major challenges in this process, such as the legal
provisions, coordination of administrative units, definition of public relations, etc.
The implementation of the EFD requires the harmonisation of legal instruments
of various disciplines (e.g. water management, spatial planning, civil protection)
enabling a coordinated – and ideally binding – practice of flood risk management. This
process is highly influenced by the administrative organisation in Austria – federal,
provincial and municipality level. The Austrian approach meets this organisational
framework by structuring the development of the flood risk management plan into 3
time-steps: (a) federal blueprint, (b) provincial editing and (c) federal finishing as
well as reporting to the European Commission. Each time-step addresses different
administrative levels and spatial scales accompanied by the active involvement of interested
parties. |