Client: Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment – Water Development Department
The aim of the project was the implementation of Articles 4 and 5 of the Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks and the relevant national legislation. The main objectives were the following:
- Preliminary flood risk assessment in accordance with the relevant guidance documents
- Identification of areas for which there is serious potential flood risk
The tasks that were successfully completed and the services that were provided were:
- Preliminary flood risk assessment on River Basin District level
- Inventory of important past flood events that can be used to predict important negative impacts of similar events in the future
- Classification of the past flood events based on the significance impacts on human life, human health, economy, cultural heritage and Environment
- Impact assessment of climate change on flood occurrences
- Assessment of adverse impacts of potential future major flood events
- Methodology development for the identification of areas for which there is significant potential flood risk, using GIS tools to a great extent. This included the selection of rivers’ segments with a catchment area greater that 10 Km2 (in most cases) that are located in urban areas, which include residential uses, public use areas, industrial, commercial and tourist areas. A buffer zone was created and the potential flood impacts on human health, environment, cultural heritage and economy were evaluated. This evaluation took under consideration the recording and evaluation of historic flood events.
- Detailed maps and information sheets were prepared for all the areas of significant potential flood risk that were identified.
The project resulted in the identification of 19 areas – river segments, for which there is significant potential flood risk. These need to be further studied in order to prepare flood hazard maps and flood risk maps for different flood scenarios. These will be used to prepare the Flood Risk Management Plans (until 2015).