Project results of Meuse working group

FLOOD-WISE Sustainable flood management strategies for cross border river basins

Fred van den Brink, River Basin Coordinator Meuse

FLOOD-WISE Final Conference 23-10-2012

Contents

• Meuse River Basin • Partners• Actions• Results and lessons learnt• Future cooperation

Meuse River Basin: focus and flood generation

• Province of Limburg (NL)• Directorate General of Region Walloon (W)• Rijkswaterstaat (NL)• Groupe Transversale Inondations (W)• Waterdienst (NL)• Waterboard Roer en Overmaas (NL)• IMC as stakeholder / sound board (NL, Fl, W, F, D, L)

Partners in Meuse wg

Actions• Comparison of methods: flood risk assessment, mapping, management

plans (pilot Gueule)• Confrontation with demands Flood Directive• Identification and exchange of good practices• Recommendations (practical, technical, policy)

• Regional partner meetings: exchange of ideas, inventory reports • Yearly conferences: workshops, political forum

Results: Inventory Reports

1. PFRA-phase: Inventory of water bodies which are at risk

2. FRM-phase: Cross-border flood hazard/risk maps

3. FRMP-phase: Inventory of goals and measures for management plan

1. Assessment: RIVERS WITH SIGNIFICANT FLOOD RISKS

1. Meuse river

2. Inventory of additional tributaries at risk: for cross-border streams applying upstream-downstream rule in province of Limburg. In Wallonia all non-navigational water bodies.

Ourthe

Lesse

Sambre

Meuse aval

Meuse amont

HaineAmbleve

Semois-Chiers

VesdreDendre

Senne

Dyle-GetteEscaut-Lys

Moselle

Moselle

Oise

Meuse aval

Escaut-Lys

Gueule pilot

2. Mapping: CROSS BORDER FLOOD HAZARD MAPS

Cross-border mapping involves adjustment of coordinates, and agreement on risk-levels, water depths, models, etc.

Methods:

Hydrological modeling and soil maps

AMICE

3. Planning: building blocks for FRMP

International ‘umbrella’ part by IMC

FRMPFrance

FRMPFlanders

FRMPWallonia

FRMP Nederland

FRMP Germany

Module Limburg

Module Brabant

Other Provinces

Existing flood management plans are used as a starting point:

• International Flood Action Plan Meuse

• National and regional water policy and water management plans

• Calamity plans

• Plan PLUIES

• Limburg Module for national FRMP

Goals• 1:250 safety level behind primary dikes along river Meuse• Different safety levels along tributaries

Measures:• River widening via the project “Meuse works”: Common Meuse and

Sand Meuse • Dike improvement within Meuse works and further on• Further river widening for

• reducing dike improvement• compensation for the effects of climate change• regional development

• Water storage and river widening along tributaries

FRMP-Protection: examples Limburg

Within FLOOD-WISE, a cross-border Flood Risk Management Plan (FRMP) pilot project on the Gueule sub-basin was carried out.

Main results:• generating a catalogue of measure for implementatiion of

FRMP in Wallonia• establishing of a score system to classify the priority of actions

per river• creating a model for automation of a score system• improvement of data and knowledge exchange with (cross-

border) partners

FRMP “Gueule sub-basin”: pilot implementation of EU Flood Directive in Wallonia

Comparison across the border

Walloon region• Top-down process and

control• Plan Pluies• Many tributaries, high detail

level• Safety standards Meuse,

but no regional safety standards

Province of Limburg• Bottom-up process with

top-down control• Limburg module 2012• Few tributaries, low detail

level• Safety standards Meuse and

regional safety standards

• German (LAWA) upstream-downstream rule • Level of detail: which water bodies, which floods

(causes, return periods)?• Use same definitions: what do we mean with

prevention, protection, calamity management?• Cross-border harmonization of plans: solidarity

principle, better crisis management, better communication: flexibility needed

Lessons learnt

Future cross-border cooperation

• Improvement of online sharing of discharge and water level data

• Examination of cross-border effects of measures• Further harmonization of flood hazard and flood risk maps

and management plans• Dissemination of results in IMC wg hydrology• Interreg: AQUADRA, AMICE, FLOODWISE, …

Thank you for your attention!