Author(s): Bernhard Schober

Linked Author(s): Bernhard Schober

Keywords: Climate change; Extreme events; Floodplains; Land use;

Abstract: Worldwide, about one third of economic damages and more than half of all persons killed by natural disasters are due to the consequences of catastrophic flood events. Moreover, these numbers increased dramatically within the last years which is caused by changed land uses along the rivers (e.g. growing settlements) and altered hydrological regimes due to climate change. In the context of flood risk mitigation, floodplains play a central role since they function as retention areas which attenuate and decelerate flood-waves. However, during the last decades many floodplains have been used for settlements or other high-value purposes which demanded structural flood protection measures like dykes which cut-off the floodplains from the active channel. Therefore, today’s flood risk management focuses on the manifold beneficial effects of floodplains and aims in protecting existing and restoring former floodplains as it is demanded by various legislative regulations (e.g. the EU-Floods-Directive). This paper investigates by means of GIS-analysis and hydrodynamic-numerical modelling the land use development on floodplains and its impact on flooding characteristics for four Austrian river reaches during the last 60 years. Changes in flooding characteristics have been analysed using hydrological and hydraulic parameters of the newly developed FEM-tool (Floodplain Evaluation Method). Further, a climate change scenario has been assumed to project current developments into the future and to assess potential negative consequences which are likely to impose new challenges to an integrated flood risk management within the next years.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/38WC092019-0692

Year: 2019