Author(s): Danitza Salazar; Patrick Willems
Linked Author(s): Patrick Willems
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: The Flemish government, through “De Vlaamse Waterweg” (DVW), an independent governmental agency for the management of navigable rivers and channels, has invested since 1976 in the design and implementation of the Sigmaplan. The Sigmaplan is a water management plan for the Schelde river and its tidal tributaries that focuses on the integrated improvement of its flood safety, nature, recreation and economic functions (Dauwe, 2017). The main flood safety measures are the construction of high and strong dikes and about 40 Flood Control Areas (FCAs, Fig. 1). Many of the planned FCAs are already built, while the remaining ones will be constructed or optimized by 2030. In view of the ongoing climate change (sea level rise and changes in inflow conditions), DVW is investigating the climate change robustness of the Sigmaplan and whether additional actions would be required. So, an analysis is made on how the already planned measures (dike levels, FCAs, depoldering areas, wetlands) react to updated climate change scenarios (horizons 2050 and 2100) and which strategies could make the designs more robust under any future climate change scenario (Willems et al., 2023).
Year: 2024