Project Acronym: SEE River Work package: WP4 – Application of the SEE River Toolkit on the River Corridor Action: 4.1. Preparation of the Drava River Framework – Analysis of the International Drava River Corridor

Preparation of the Drava River Framework Analysis of the International Drava River Corridor DRAFT NATIONAL DRAVA RIVER CORRIDOR ANALYSIS REPORT OF

Regional Government of , Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Department 8 ‐ Environment, Water and Nature Protection Water Management, zinke.enviro@.at [email protected]; s.korber@revital‐ib.at [email protected]

General information about the preparation of this draft Analysis Reports

Along the Drava, especially in the Spittal a. d. Drau, a number of successful projects have been executed concerning river management (restoration, flood protection, nature conservation, recreation, etc.). Stakeholder involvement was always an important part of these projects. The projects LIFE I (Flood Plain‐Forest Combine of the Upper Drau River Valley) and LIFE II (Life Vein – Upper Drava River) projects are the most known ones; in the following parts of this report particular measures of these LIFE‐projects are described. Our project work always follows the relevant EU directives such as the Water Framework Directive, the Flood Directive, or the Habitat and Birds Directives.

The draft results of this Austrian Drava Analysis Report will be discussed at the national stakeholder workshop on the 13th of June 2013 in (near Spittal a. d. Drau). Received stakeholder comments and information from of the workshop will afterwards be included in the final Analysis Report.

As proposed by the Lead Partner, the chapters 9‐11 on “Synergies and conflicts analysis”, “Feasible measures” and Progress Indicators connected to the Drava River Vision objectives will be elaborated and added at a later stage. At the upcoming project meeting on 18‐20 June in Hungary (Harkány) the main parts of the analysis and the methods used will be assessed.

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Table of contents: 1. Introduction – Purpose of the Analysis Report ...... 4 1.1. What this report analyses and what is it used for ...... 6 1.2. Pilot area versus National Report ...... 7 2. Resource analysis ...... 9 2.1. Location information ...... 9 2.2. Nature values ...... 10 2.3. Water related resources ...... 14 2.4. Cultural values ...... 25 2.5. Economic resources ...... 31 3. Risk analysis ...... 33 3.1. Flood risk ...... 33 3.2. Water quality hazards ...... 44 3.3. Droughts ...... 46 4. Spatial analysis ...... 47 5. Institutional Setup Analysis ...... 52 6. Project analysis ...... 55 7. Stakeholder analysis ...... 56 7.1. Methodology of stakeholder identification ...... 56 7.2. Identified stakeholders ...... 57 8. Map of hot spots ...... 60 9. Synergies and conflict analysis – Elaboration Later ...... 61 10. Feasible measures – Elaboration later ...... 62 10.1. Process oriented measures ...... 62 10.2. Project content related measures ...... 62 11. Progress indicators and benchmarks – Elaboration later ...... 64 12. Reference documents ...... 65

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1. INTRODUCTION – PURPOSE OF THE ANALYSIS REPORT

This report is one of five National Drava River Corridor Analysis Reports (NDRCAR) describing pilot areas selected in each of the five Drava countries , Austria, , Hungary and Croatia. The report is based on a detailed analysis of pilot areas selected in each Drava country – in this case this is the Austrian Drava corridor with the pilot area located near Spittal/Carinthia (see location of the black box in the following images). Information and insight gained on the pilot area shall make it possible to extend the experiences onto the whole Drava River Corridor.

Spittal

In Austria there are eight national planning areas for the management of rivers and catchments. The planning area Drava (orange coloured, source: NGP Austrian River Basin Management Plan) is located in the south of Austria. The entire orange‐shaded area discharges into the Drava.

The most important tributaries of the Drava in Austria are:  Villgratenbach and Isel rivers in East  Malta/Lieser and Möll rivers which enter the Drava in the pilot area  , Afritzerbach, Vellach, Glan/, Wölfnitzbach, Feistritz and rivers which discharge downstream of the pilot area into the Drava.

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Spittal

The Drava River flows west‐east across the south of Austria, through the Provinces of (part of Tyrol) and Carinthia. The River Drava in Austria has a total length of 258 km which goes from from r‐ km 665 (Italian border) to r‐km 407 (Slovenian border). The maps show the location of the pilot area (black box) with a total length of about 70 km. It is located in the district of Spittal, one of the 10 districts in Carinthia.

The map below shows the catchment of the Drava River with the important “sub‐catchments”. The river Isel flows into the Drava River some kilometres upstream from the start of the pilot area, Möll and Lieser rivers discharge in the Drava River within the pilot area, while the river Gail flows into the Drava River in the city , located some kilometres downstream of the pilot area. The Gurk and the Vellach flow into the Drava River downstream of Villach. The Lavant River discharges in the Drava in Lavamünd a few kilometres before the border to Slovenia.

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Spittal

1.1. What this report analyses and what is it used for

The aim of the Report is to provide a sound basis of information on the resources, risks, opportunities, potential synergies and conflicts among nature values and existing or potential uses of the river corridor. The purpose of the Report is to support the regional or local consultations held on the management and development of the Drava River Corridor (DRC) with the stakeholders. As some of the information this Report is to contain will be available at a later stage of the SEE River project only, first the “baseline” part of the Analysis Report was issued, covering Chapters 1 to 8. This will be extended with further chapters, utilizing the information revealed by the stakeholder consultations and the results of the development of the Drava River Toolkit. This first issue of the Report contains the baseline analysis of the Drava in terms of  Resource analysis (Status of the river corridor regarding Nature values, Water related resources including quantity and quality, Cultural values)  Risk analysis (Flood risks and status of flood defence, Climate change, droughts, accidental pollution)  Spatial analysis (Spatial structure, Identification of the Drava River Corridor)  Institutional setup analysis (legal, institutional, organisational setup within the DRC per country)  Project analysis (Projects – past, ongoing, planned, foreseen development and conservation projects, including potential threats and benefits involved)  Stakeholder analysis (Identification of stakeholders, the existing and future goals and aspirations)  Map of hotspots (to visualise the existing or potential conflict zones between river uses, nature values and development projects)

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In order to help the process leading towards sustainable and integrated development, thus to move the river corridor towards the notion of a Contemporary River, the Report will at a later stage contain two more chapters on  Synergies and conflicts analysis (as identified among projects, stakeholders, conservation and development issues)  Feasible measures (→ Toolkit) to dissolve conflicts.  Progress indicators and benchmarks (to measure the distance of the present and foreseen status of the river corridor from the goals set in the Drava River Declaration).

The Report is based on an extensive set of previous reports, documents, plans and other material relevant to the management of the Drava River Corridor. They are listed in the chapter named:  Reference documents.

1.2. Pilot area versus National Report

The goal of this National Drava River Report is to give a detailed insight to the pilot area and to provide a general overview for the rest of the river corridor within the country. This difference in expected elaboration allowed different approaches to be followed within the pilot area and outside of it. Pilot areas – where the SEE River project could carry out a detailed survey – cover about 25% of the length or area of the Drava River corridor. On the remaining 75% basically the same type of information was needed for the overview, although the goal of the Analysis Report allowed less exact characterisation. In this latter part estimation methods were mainly applied, ranging from extrapolation and analogy, through fast surveys, to the use of available GIS information and expert judgement. . . Drava River Corridor . . . . .

. pilot pilot pilot pilot pilot . estimate estimate estimate estimate . Some of the analysis presented in this report has been carried out by the detailed survey of the pilot area and for the rest of the corridor information is based on sources readily available (mainly from river basin management plans, as for example in the case of resource, risk and spatial analysis). From

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other aspects, practically the same information is valid for the whole area (e.g. institutional setup analysis). In case of the stakeholder and project analyses, a detailed survey of the pilot area has been carried out, meanwhile for the rest of the national river section only the most important projects and stakeholders were identified. Nevertheless, a few features of the corridor outside the pilot area were extrapolated or generalized from the pilot area studies or came via oral input from the national stakeholder workshop.

As there were many studies and projects already carried out in Austria along the river Drava in the last 20 years, the existing range of data and information is very good. So there was not much extending of available information necessary.

Based on the contents of the five National Reports, a joint report covering the full length of the Drava River will be compiled. The International Drava River Report (IDRR), is mainly derived by the synthesis of the National Reports, has a parallel structure and follows the same line of thinking.

Below are some images of the Drava River in Austria:

Drava River in East Tyrol nowadays (coloured pictures) and after the flood event in 1965, a truly historic disaster (photos: Revital and BBA )

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Drava near ‐ within the pilot area, Drava restoration measure in /Spittal – flood protection and restoration. Photo: Revital lower end of the pilot area. Photo: Revital

2. RESOURCE ANALYSIS

In this chapter a short overview of the natural, economic, and social resources intrinsic to the Austrian Drava River Corridor is provided in concise sections. Resources are understood in a broad sense, including all assets this part of the Drava region might rely upon in its development towards becoming a contemporary river – in terms of nature values, water related resources, economic assets and potential, cultural values.

2.1. Location information

The pilot area is located in the district of Spittal in Carinthia and has a length of approximately 70 km (from 619,2 rkm to 550,5 rkm). The whole river stretch of the Drava in Austria extends from 665,5 rkm to 407,0 rkm, and therefore has an length of 258,5 km. The Drava River flows across 52 municipalities. In East Tyrol 14 municipalities are touched, while in the pilot goes through 13 municipalities. Further downstream up to the border to Slovenia, another 25 municipalities are counted. In the following table the municipalities are listed from upstream to downstream. Some are located either on the right or the left riverbank, some municipalities claim both riverbanks. This explains the rkm shift/overlap in the table (for locating the municipalities see also the map of hotspots). The figures in chapter 1 show the location of the pilot area in Austria.

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Municipalities/part of Drava from rkm Municipalities/part of pilot Drava from rkm pilot area (Yes/No) to rkm area (Yes/No) to rkm (N) 665,535 ‐ 659,767 (Y) 550,525 ‐ 547,923 (N) 659,767 ‐ 658,734 (N) 548,668 ‐ 542,752 Strassen (N) 658,734 ‐ 654,137 (N) 547,923 ‐ 535,912 (N) 654,137 ‐ 652,800 (N) 542,752 ‐ 541,632 (N) 652,800 ‐ 646,429 Weissenstein (N) 541,632 ‐ 525,694 (N) 646,429 ‐ 638,510 Villach (N) 526,497 ‐ 507,358 (N) 638,510 ‐ 633,251 (N) 512,385 ‐ 506,741 Amlach (N) 633,251 ‐ 632,655 (N) 507,358 ‐ 499,249 Lienz (N) 632,655 ‐ 628,322 Velden (N) 502,791 ‐ 492,655 (N) 630,166 ‐ 626,120 St. Jakob im Rosental (N) 499,249 ‐ 488,803 Nussdorf‐Debant (N) 628,319 ‐ 627,173 Ludmannsdorf (N) 492,655 ‐ 481,089 Dölsach (N) 627,174 ‐ 622,109 (N) 481,089 ‐ 479,540 Lavant (N) 626,120 ‐ 621,991 Köttmannsdorf (N) 482,000 ‐ 476,953 (N) 621,991 ‐ 616,279 Ferlach (N) 479,540 ‐ 467,377 (Y) 619,214 ‐ 616,193 Maria Rain (N) 476,952 ‐ 469,500 (Y) 610,495 ‐ 605,396 Ebenthal (N) 469,500 ‐ 462,287 i.D. (Y) 608,358 ‐ 600,991 St. Magareten im Rosental (N) 467,377 ‐ 462,009 Berg i. D. (Y) 600,991 ‐ 596,252 Gallizien (N) 462,009 ‐ 454,992 Greifenburg (Y) 597,621 ‐ 590,325 Grafenstein (N) 460,951 ‐ 453,792 Steinfeld (Y) 591,298 ‐ 579,998 Völkermarkt (N) 453,792 ‐ 432,790 Kleblach‐ Lind (Y) 585,248 ‐ 576,575 St. Kanzian am Klopeiner See (N) 454,986 ‐ 446,466 Sachsenburg (Y) 576,575 ‐ 569,300 Eberndorf (N) 446,466 ‐ 432,446 (Y) 572,018 ‐ 567,150 Bleiburg (N) 432,446 ‐ 425,033 (Y) 567,154 ‐ 556,390 Ruden (N) 432,790 ‐ 421,050 (Y) 569,300 ‐ 556,041 Neuhaus (N) 425,033 ‐ 411,222 Spittal a. D. (Y) 562,395 ‐ 548,668 Lavamünd (N) 421,052 ‐ 407,049

2.2. Nature values

The nature values of the pilot area presented here are taken from the LIFE Drava laymen report: The Upper Drava in Carinthia (Austria) is rich in natural resources. As early as 1998, the river with its riparian zones was placed under protection as a Natura 2000 site (coloured green in the map). Since 2011 the Upper Drava is a European Protected Area (Austrian name for Natura 2000 sites). Running in a west‐east direction, it extends over some 70 km of the Drava from Oberdrauburg to Molzbichl near the Drava hydrodam at Paternion (owner: The Verbund group), east of Spittal a. d. Drau.

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DRAVA

Molzbichl DRAVA

The approximate 1,100 hectare sized Upper Drava Natura 2000 site is entirely a public water body. It accommodates numerous natural resources, such as:  The last free‐flowing, meaning non‐dammed stretch of the Austrian Drava  The largest grey alder riparian forest of Austria  19 native fish species, among them European‐wide endangered species, such as the salmon or Vairone (Telestes souffia)  Endangered plant species such as the German tamarisk (Myricaria germanica) or Dwarf Molzbichl Bulrush (Typha minima) have been successfully reintroduced  Over 140 bird species, including 51 red‐listed species, are recorded; the Upper Drava Valley is correspondingly important for many bird populations, such as a resting place during their migration over the Alps  Typical bird species of inner‐alpine branching rivers are found, such as kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), sandpiper (Calidris sp.), grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) and white‐throated dipper (Cinclus.c.); in the riparian forests one can find the golden oriole (Oriolus auratus) and the spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos spec.), and near Baldramsdorf, the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) has been successfully breeding for years  The otter (Lutra l.) which had temporarily disappeared has re‐developed a small population thanks to river restoration.

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Some more information about the pilot area:

s

Until approximately 140 years ago the Drava ruled the floodplain with its annual floods. A wide branching river and wetland water body system, large gravel surfaces, willow brushwood, grey alder wetlands, widespread pastures and wet meadows characterised the valley floor. With the building of the rail road line across the Upper Drava Valley (about 1870) large changes began to take place. Regulating works fixed the rivers course, in order to reduce the flood danger and to intensify agricultural use and to allow expanding settlements. The original wetlands valley floor shrank. After the 100‐years flood events in 1965 and 1966 a new problem arose: river bed erosion. Severe impacts occurred in the Drava due to decreased bed load supply from the obstructed torrents, from gravel extraction from the river and from narrowing the river bed. The river bed deepened even further, many wetland water bodies went dry with the sinking groundwater levels. Agriculture and the stability of the bank protection structures also suffered. At the beginning of the 1990’s, hydraulic engineers and environmentalists recognised their common interests about the Upper Drava. It came to an intensive collaboration, where both water management and nature conservation benefitted from. As early as 1993, on the basis of a water management concept, the first restoration measures began in the form of river widening. In 1999‐2003 under the first EU‐sponsored LIFE‐Project titled "Restoration of the wetland and riparian area on the Upper Drava river", 10 river kilometres were revitalised, 100 wetland water bodies created and approximately 100 hectares of riparian forests were secured. While many positive aims were achieved, also new goals emerged which could only be reached within the framework of another LIFE‐Project, “Life vein – Upper Drava River”. This included:  Further stabilisation of the Drava river bed through widening and strengthening of the bed load supply from tributary mountain creeks  More pristine, dynamically forming river habitats  Improved on‐site visitor information and management  International cooperation with the respective authorities of the neighbouring Drava states.

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The flood protection concept on the Upper Drava provides that (in the case of 10‐years events) floodwaters may overflow the banks quite soon and spread out over the wide valley area. As a result, so much water is retained that downstream locations remain save from flooding. Endangered towns are protected locally. However, this European‐wide trend‐setting concept triggered some uncertainties. A too narrow river bed and the failure to replenish gravel and crushed rock accelerated river bed deepening. As a result, the bank control structures became unstable, floodplains lost their function. The LIFE measures on the Upper Drava are intended to counteract this trend: river bed widening is supposed to stabilise the Drava bed, retain water and at the same time form new wetland habitats and pristine local recreation areas: a win‐win‐situation for both human beings and nature.

Left photo: The flood disasters of 1965 and 1966 are still painfully fresh in the memory of many local people. The Upper Drava Valley was then cut off from the outside world, and the valley devastated. Right photo: During the last big flood in the Upper Drava Valley in 1991, flood retention areas prevented greater damage.

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2.3. Water related resources

In this section a short description of the water quantity and quality status of the pilot as compared to the national Drava section is given. Water regime of the Drava in Austria Name Location (rkm) Within the Characteristic flows from upstream to pilot area downstream (Yes/No) Arnbach No NQ 0,73 m³/s MQ 3,38 m³/s HQ100 66,2 m/s Rabland No NQ 1,28 m³/s MQ 8,93 m³/s HQ100 185 m³/s Lienz‐Falkensteinsteg No NQ 0,69 m³/s MQ 13,4 m³/s HQ100 307,1 m³/s Lienz‐Peggetz No NQ 5,13 m³/s MQ 53,3 m³/s HQ100 915 m³/s Oberdrauburg Yes NQ 11 m³/s MQ 63 m³/s HQ100 1000 m³/s Greifenburg Yes NQ 15 m³/s MQ 69 m³/s HQ100 1025 m³/s Sachsenburg Yes NQ 17 m³/s MQ 67 m³/s HQ100 1050 m³/s Drauhofen Yes NQ 21 m³/s MQ 109 m³/s HQ100 1400 m³/s Amlach Yes NQ 28 m³/s MQ 128 m³/s HQ100 1650 m³/s Lavamünd No NQ 95 m³/s MQ 280 m³/s HQ100 2400 m³/s The image shows the Drava with the most important tributaries and their typical discharges. At the border to Italy the mean discharge is 3,38 m³/s, at the border to Slovenia it is 280 m³/s ‐ more than 80 times the discharge in Arnbach/Sillian.

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Groundwater regime, dependencies on stages of the river The bottoms of the main valleys in Carinthia and Easter Tyrol are covered with Quaternary valley sediments – post‐glacial loose sediments (see the yellow coloured areas in the map below – the situation is also valid for the Drava valley in East Tyrol) with a thickness of up to 150 m. There are less porous layers of marine clays but also many areas with sand/gravel which have porous space serving as groundwater storage. The whole land surface drains into these areas, so there is a big volume of groundwater available. The most important areas of groundwater storage are: the Basin, Jaunfeld, Krappfeld, Villach Basin, the Upper Drava Valley west of Spittal, the valleys of Gail, Glan and Gurk and the “Old Gurk valley” in the area between Griffen and the Drava. Most areas with groundwater usable as drinking water have unfavourable proportions of the cover layer: For using these areas it is possible to define certain protection zones (with limited economic uses), as provided by the Austrian Water Law. Along the Drava River there is infiltration and exfiltration from the river to the groundwater. A problem for groundwater level is the river bed erosion, caused by heavy river corrections.

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Map of the hydrogeologic situation in Carinthia:

Hydro‐energy capacity of the river section

Tyrol: Along the Drava River there are several hydropower plants. In East Tyrol the largest is the hydropower station Strassen‐Amlach which leaves only a residual flow (see the area of this power plant marked in the blue ellipse on the map below). All black and red dots in the map show the locations of small hydropower plants at the Drava tributaries in East Tyrol. A government study about the hydro‐energy potential of the East Tyrol rivers showed that beside the existing hydropower plants along the Drava River the potential for future projects is not very high. The map below shows the hydro‐energy potential (source: ATL): magenta‐coloured river courses have no potential (0 points), dark green‐coloured rivers the highest potential (5 points). Thus, today the Drava from Sillian to Lienz has only a rather low additional potential (0 to 2 points), from Lienz to Oberdrauburg this potential is medium (3 points).

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Name Performance yearly performance year of initiation Strassen Amlach 60 MW 219 GWh 1986

Residual flow at the Drava, photo: Reservoir Strassen, photo: Return flow into the Drava at Revital TIWAG Amlach: photo: Revital

Carinthia – pilot area: Along the Drava pilot area (Oberdrauburg to Molzbichl) there is no hydropower plant. In former years some power plants were planned but have not been built (so its hydro‐energy potential still exists). Nowadays this river stretch is a Natura 2000 area and no new hydro‐power plants will be built here. But it depends on the “political situation” if one can hear again of those former plans. As the power plant Strassen‐Amlach and the power plant Malta Unterstufe in Sachsenburg (on the tributary Möll) cause flush flows, negative effects on the river ecosystem of the Drava can be observed also in the Natura 2000 area. Name Performance yearly performance year of initiation Malta Unterstufe 41 MW 120.000 MWh 1979

Scheme of the hydropower plants of the Verbund power company group in Upper Carinthia, causing flash floods in the Drava and residual flow in the rivers Malta, Lieser and Möll (source: Verbund)

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Carinthia – downstream the pilot area: Along the Drava downstream from the pilot area there are 10 hydropower stations. All 10 hydropower plants have long reservoirs, so that there are no real free‐flowing stretches left any more. The figure below shows the location of hydropower plants on the rivers Möll, Malta, Lieser and Gail which are the most important tributaries of the Drava. It shows also the location of the power plant Malta Unterstufe (Sachsenburg) which is discharging into the Drava and the location of the 10 run‐off river power plants (“Laufkraftwerk”) along the Drava. All power plants belong to the Verbund group.

Short description of all hydropower plants on the Drava downstream of the pilot area: Name Performance Annual performance Start of operation Annabrücke 90 MW 390.000 MWh 1982 Edling 87 MW 407.000 MWh 1963 Feistritz‐Ludmannsdorf 88 MW 354.000 MWh 1969 Ferlach‐Maria Rain 75 MW 318.000 MWh 1976 Kellerberg 25 MW 96.000 MWh 1986 Lavamünd 28 MW 156.000 MWh 1950 Paternion 24 MW 95.000 MWh 1989 Rosegg‐St. Jakob 80 MW 338.000 MWh 1975 Schwabeck 79 MW 378.000 MWh 1944 Villach 25 MW 100.000 MWh 1984

Surface and groundwater body status according to the River Basin Management Plan The general management of surface and groundwater bodies is given by the Austrian River Basin Management Plan (“NGP”): The NGP is a planning instrument for river basin‐related management and meets the requirements of the Water Framework Directive which is based on an integrated

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approach for protection, improvement and sustainable use of all waters. First output was a detailed analysis of the status‐quo of all water bodies and their different uses. Based on this analysis the management objectives for the conservation and restoration of water bodies were defined and also the essential measures to reach the objectives (see the measures defined for the Drava in chapter 6).

The national river basin management plan will be prepared every 6 years by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management: the first one in 2009, and for 2015 a revised version will be prepared. There are several guidance documents on how to prepare the NGP (Qualitätszielverordnung, Leitfaden zur Erhebung der biologischen Qualitätselemente, Leitfaden zur typspezifischen Bewertung der allgemeinen chemischen/physikalischen Parameter, Leitfaden zur hydromorphologischen Zustandserhebung, Leitfaden zur Bewertung erheblich veränderter Wasserkörper, Strategiepapier – Qualitätsziele, Umweltqualitätsnormen).

Status of the surface water bodies of the Drava: From the Italian border to Sillian the Drava River is a heavily modified water body with moderate to poor conditions (caused by the residual flow and morphological deficits, marked as a yellow‐grey dashed river stretch). From Sillian downstream (except one short stretch upstream Lienz) to Sachsenburg the Drava is in a good condition (flush flow caused by the discharge of the hydropower plant Malta Unterstufe). From Sachsenburg downstream to Lavamünd and the border to Slovenia the condition of the River is again moderate to poor (caused by the hydromorphological and morphological influence of the hydropower plants and their 10 reservoirs with levees). Exception is a short stretch with good condition near Rosegg/Villach (rich morphological structures and fish in spite of the residual flow). The figures below are clipped from the Austrian River Basin Management Plan (NGP):

Sillian

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Lavamünd

The NGP (Austrian River Basin Management Plan) table below further illustrates the status of the Drava surface water bodies:

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The status of the groundwater body according the River Basin Management Plan is rated as good (in terms of both chemistry and quantity). All relevant groundwater bodies along the Drava River are near the surface. The figure below (source: KIS) shows the different groundwater bodies along the Drava, the most important being:  GK100059 213,65 km² (Drava valley)  GK100062 163,27 km² (Jauntal)  GK100065 75,28 km² ()  GK100067 71,79 km² (Rosental)

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The following table shows the result of the evaluation of the groundwater bodies (source: NGP Austrian River Basin Management Plan): An x in the column indicates a risk for a particular substance not to remain under the threshold value.

Water quality Over the last 30 to 20 years the water quality became better because nearly every municipality has a functioning sewage treatment system. The first figure below shows the poor condition of the water quality in 1980 (source: AKL Abt. 8):

Today, as shown in the next figure, the water quality of the Drava from the border to Italy down to the end of the pilot area is I‐II (coloured blue‐green ‐ no illustration available for East Tyrol), and from the end of the pilot area down to the border with Slovenia the water quality is II (coloured green; source: AKL Abt. 8).

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Gravel and Sediments The sediment situation and the suspended and bed load regime of the Drava in Austria is separated into two parts: One reach from Silian to Molzbichl, and the second from Paternion to Lavamünd.

Sillian to Molzbichl/Paternion: Originally, the Drava in this section was a partially braided, aggradating channel system with a large sediment supply from Alpine sources (Nachtnebel et al., 1993). However, high floods at the end of the 19th century and again in the 1960s required solutions for flood control and for minimising river bed aggradation. To achieve these objectives, a variety of bank protection measures was performed, and the river bed channelized. This caused uniform river widths of c. 50 m and an average water depth of c. 4.5 m at the mean annual flood (300 m3 s−1). These measures, together with other catchment‐wide changes, caused economic and ecological problems (Habersack and Nachtnebel, 1994). Over time the river regime changed significantly and river bed erosion led to ecological and river bed stabilization problems. In order to improve the ecological functioning of the Drava and to minimise river bed degradation, river bed widening measures were implemented. (Habersack et al., 2003).

Hence, the morphology has changed significantly due to the river bed widening measures, to a river with high structural variability, with gravel bars, still water zones and islands. Today, river widths range from 80 to 120 m, and the average water depth is c.3.5 m at the mean annual flood (c. 300 m3 s−1). In this areas now the river bed level determines a dynamic balance.

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Studies about the bed load balance have been carried out by the energy group TIWAG in East Tyrol (from Sillian to Lienz) and by the University of Applied Life Science (BOKU) from Lienz to Spittal (including the Isel in East Tyrol as one of the most important tributaries of the Drava ).

Molzbichl/Paternion to Lavamünd: This second river section is significantly influenced by the hydro‐ power stations. In an interview, Andreas Moser from the Verbund group described the situation like this: The Verbund group has to excavate and remove gravel where tributaries enter into the reservoirs of the 10 hydropower plants. Also material from upstream the Drava has to be removed at the beginning of the Paternion reservoir. There is a notice of authority granting based on the Austrian water law concerning the excavation and removal of the gravel: Every 2 to 3 years in total 100.000 m³ of gravel from upstream the Drava has to be removed, from the tributary Gail about 50.000 m³. Downstream the mouth of the Gail, the amount of gravel input is smaller. Concerning sediments there is dredging in every reservoir along the Drava. In connection with the excavation and dumping of sediments some ecological projects have been implemented. The excavated material was used to build structures in the reservoirs, creating new habitats for fish, amphibians and birds. See some images of the storage Völkermarkt structured with excavated sediments (image: Google earth)

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The Verbund group has its own machines for the excavation but has also external contractors to manage the reservoirs. From 2004 to 2012 about 2,5 Mio.m³ of sediments have been excavated.

Because of the described methods almost no gravel and sediments are discharged downstream to Slovenia. Thoughts about changing this process and to allow a certain amount of gravel and sediment transport downstream exist but the technical capabilities do not exist yet...

2.4. Cultural values

The Upper Drava valley in East Tyrol and Carinthia forms in large sections a historic transport and trading route using road and railway lines but also floats and boats. Today the valley hosts many historic villages and cities as well as cultural monuments. Some traditional river uses became well equipped for high quality tourism, notably along the popular 366 km Drava cycle path from Toblach (Italy) to Maribor (Slovenia; see http://www.drauradweg.com/en.aspx). The most important historic monuments and traditional activities include:

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In East Tyrol Sillian, East Tyrol

Punbrugge: old wooden bridge (1781) in Sillian, © TVB Old church in Sillian (14th century), © Osttirol TVB Osttirol

Lienz, East Tyrol Lienz: District capital (637 m asl; 12,000 inhabitants) of East Tyrol with a large historic city centre; many cultural activities and events happen during the year.

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all photos www.lienz.at

Bruck Castle, Lienz Built in the 13th century, the castle hosts today the city’s art museum including a collection of Albin Egger‐Lienz (famous expressionist painter of rural alpine life): In 2013, there are special exhibitions on the Drava fisheries and the local bat fauna.

© Ch. Gaggl Painting of Albin Egger‐Lienz© Vaverka

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Aguntum, near Lienz Aguntum is a site of settlement excavations from Neolithic Age and of the Roman city of Aguntum. Many cultural activities and events happen during the year at the cultural site.

In Carinthia Oberdrauburg and downstream

Oberdrauburg: Old church (14th century), Oberdrauburg: Hohenburg castle; ©Tourismusbüro Oberdrauburg ©Tourismusbüro Oberdrauburg

Nostalgic Drava ferry Lansach – Feffernitz Traditional floating (Sachsenburg) ©Arco GmbH (communes Weißenstein and Paternion) ©Arco GmbH

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Spittal a.d. Drau

Renaissance Palace Porcia (with arcade court hosting a famous summer theatre festival), © Schaefer

Spittal: District capital (16,000 inhab.) of Upper Carinthia, © Tiscover

© Tiscover Villach District capital (60,000 inhab.) of Upper Carinthia;

© Franz Gerdl © Raul de Chissota Historic centre of Villach with Gothic parish church and main square (below: with pillory from 12th century); famous carnival activities

© Johann Jaritz

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Ferlach Ferlach castle (16th century): Gunsmith & Hunting Museum (collection of historic handcraft: since 2010 part of the UNESCO Immaterial Cultural Heritage of Austria)

© Johann Jart © Büchsenmacher‐ und Jagdmuseum Downstream of Villach

River cruises on the Drava impounded lake (St. Kanzian – Völkermarkt – Edling) © Zupac

Traditional river floats (tourist tours from Lavamünd down to /SI).

© Wagner © www.kraftholz‐floss.at

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2.5. Economic resources

For describing the economic significance, the Austrian Drava is divided into certain sections with information about agriculture, industry and tourism. Forestry is not a very important sector along the Austrian Drava corridor, so there are no special descriptions. The energy sector concerning hydropower plants is quite important; information can be found in previous chapters.

Drava in East Tyrol Agriculture: Around Sillian the bottom of the small valley is wide and important for agricultural use. Downstream until Leisach (before) Lienz the Drava flows more or less in a narrow valley, sometimes with a canyon character, so agriculture is not so important. Around Lienz and up to the beginning of the pilot area in Oberdrauburg the (extensive) agricultural use of the bottom of the valley is very important, similar to the pilot area. Forestry has no important role in the river corridor although the protection function of the forest along the steep mountain sides upstream of Leisach has to be maintained. Industry: Sillian and Lienz belong along the Upper Drava to the most important areas for working people. There are many small companies with local employees in the municipalities. The waffle producing company Loaker runs a big producing area near Sillian. The area is influenced by the high groundwater level but not directly influenced by the Drava. The Liebherr group has one big production site for fridges and freezers near Lienz (most important employer in East Tyrol) only a few hundred meters beside the Drava but is not really influenced by the river. Service sector especially tourism: The famous cycle path runs along the whole Drava in Austria. From (/Italy) to Lienz this cycle path is in intensive use of Italian tourists. There are special offers to cycle downstream to Lienz, to visit the Bruck castle and then return to Innichen by train. The Drava from Leisach to Lienz is also known as an interesting area for kayaking. Downstream of Lienz the river is calmer and many tourists use it with canoes or rafts. Lienz at the junction of Isel and Drava is also a busy meeting point for adventure tourists who like water sports, hiking, mountaineering, cycling, skiing and also the “Italian flair” of the City. Drava pilot area Agriculture: The valley floor is rather wide and the soil is very fertile. Except for the alluvial cones the areas is flat and an important area for agricultural use (grassland and corn). Although the agriculture is more or

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less small‐structured many farmers are able to run their farm full‐time. The Drava flows like a living vein through the valley and is buffered by a belt of riparian forest which forms the Natura 2000 area. Over the last 20 years various restorations measures have been implemented along the Drava and in the floodplain (development of riparian forest, water bodies for amphibians, wet grassland, etc.). So although the area is in intensive agricultural use, the nature’s value is rather high. Forestry has no important role along the Drava in the pilot area but dominates the steep slopes of the high mountains (over 2000 m). Industry: From Oberdrauburg to Sachsenburg there are many small companies with local employees. Bigger and so more important industrial companies for the working sector are Europlast in Dellach and Hasslacher Norica Timber and Pellex Bioenergie in Sachsenburg: Europlast produces all kinds of plastic containers and use water for cooling its machines for plastic‐moulding. Hasslacher Noritec timber is a huge saw mill which also produces wooden construction material. Pellex produces wooden heating material (pellets). All these companies take Drava water for their production but there is no pollution impact known. In the city of Spittal and in the surroundings there are many companies, so Spittal is an important working area for the people from the Möll and also the Drau valleys. The Drava bypasses Spittal in the south. Service sector especially tourism: Cycling tourists are important for the Drava in the entire pilot area. During the two LIFE‐projects some really nice recreation areas have been set up at the river. Many people go down the Drava via canoe or rubber boat/raft. To return, it is possible to use the train, as most train stations are located quite close to the Drava. At the outdoor park Oberdrautal (www.oberdrautal.info) tourists can book special activities to explore the Drava and all restoration sites. Drava downstream Agriculture: Downstream the end of the pilot area until the junction of pilot area the Gail into the Dravat at Villach, the agricultural situation is quite similar to the upstream stretches. Downstream Villach the Alpine mountains turn into hills, the landscape gets wider. Still, the agricultural use of the floodplains is important, but also the density of the settlements gets higher. At the agriculture landuse tillage is dominating. Industry: Downstream the pilot area the river Drava is significantly altered by large dams and reservoirs. The settlements reach much closer to the river in comparison to the upstream Drava. Big industries like

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Infinion or Mahle are located near the river corridor. Service sector especially tourism: Main attractions are the cycle path along the Drava, the centre of Villach with its cafes next to the river and several nearby sights (Landskron castle, Finkenstein ruin and the Lakes Ossiachersee, Faakersee – all being outside of the Drava corridor). Downstream there are some really nice and peaceful areas for Drava reservoir tourists.

3. RISK ANALYSIS

This risk analysis for the Austrian Drava deals with the three major risks along the Drava River Corridor: flood risk, water quality hazards and droughts. The analysis detailed in this chapter covers the risk phenomenon, its expected probabilities and the effects on the Corridor, and the mitigation measures taken or contemplated to be taken in the future. The probable effect of climate change both on expected floods and droughts is also briefly addressed.

3.1. Flood risk

The “Map of Austrian Hot Spots” along the Drava shows next to other information also the inundation areas (HQ30, HQ100 and HG300) and the areas of potential significant flood risk (APSFR).

Some more information concerning the flood risk along the Drava is described below:

Characterisation of typical flood events

Annual floods and small flood events up to HQ10:  Annual floods do not cause any damage on infrastructure and settlements along the Drava. There are almost no impacted areas.  For all restoration measures (especially along the pilot area) and their further developments, small flood events (f.e. HQ5, HQ10) are actually important. Small flood events are also important for the function of the wetlands and the riparian forest along the Drava.  The time of the typical annual flood events is late spring/early summer when the snow melting in the mountains has its peak.

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Concerning the EU Flood Directive, several analyses have been done so far:  Elaboration of a preliminary flood risk assessment (maps of the river basin, description of the floods) for Austria  Identification of those areas for which potential significant flood risks exist or are considered likely to occur  Preparation of flood hazard maps and flood risk maps for Austria  Elaboration of flood risk management plans (draft versions for particular areas in Austria already exist, f.e. a flood risk management plan for the Möll valley – tributary of the Drava near Sachsenburg, flood risk management plan for the Upper Traun in /)

The areas of potential significant flood risk (APSFR, red coloured stretches) in Carinthia are shown on the map below (source: AKL Abt. 8):

Along the Drava in Easter Tyrol and Carinthia the areas of potential significant flood risk (short: APSFR) have been identified, the most important are shown in the table below (see also the Map of hotspots): Number Name Effected Rivers Eastern Tyrol 7083 Drau ‐ Sillian und Heinfels Drau, Villgratenbach

7084 Drau ‐ Lienzer Talboden Drau, Isel, Debantbach

7086 Kronenbach ‐ Assling Kronenbach 7088 Wartschenbach ‐ Nußdorf‐Debant Wartschenbach Carinthia 2004 Drau bei Villach Drau 2017 Drau, oberhalb KW Paternion Drau, Durachgraben Baldramsdorfer Mühlbach, Gendorfer Bach, Gschiesser Mühlbach, 2018 Rechtsufrige Wildbachzubringer bei Baldramsdorf Lamperbergbach, Rosenheimer Bach, Unterhauserbach, Zorbach

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Drau, Möll, Mühldorfer Bach, 2019 Mündung Moll in die Drau und die Drau Metnitzerbach im Mölltal, Nikolaigraben Agrenzbach, Brandschusterbach, Kapellenbach, Pfarrergraben, 2020 rechtsufrige Wildbachzubringer bei Lind Pfeiferbachl, Zauchenbach (Kleblach Lind) 2022 Gnoppnitzbach Gnoppnitzbach Drau von Dellach bis Mündung Bergerbach, inkl. Berger Bach, D ellacher Kirchbach, 2023 Draßnitzbach, Dellacher Kirchbach, Lammbach im Drautal, Draßnitzbach, Drau, Feistritz (Drau, Feistritzbach bei Berg und Bergerbach ), Lahmbach, Saubachl Drau, Gailbergbach, Irschnerbach, Mödritschbach, Potschlingerbach, 2024 Drau von Irschen bis Oberdrauburg Schwarzenbachl bei Simmerlach, Tobelbach (Drau) 2040 Kosiakbach, Pungartnikbach, Kokrabach Fürnitzer Feistritz, Gail, Kosiakbach 2042 Lavant an der Mündung in die Drau Drau, Lavant 2045 Bleiburger Feitritzbach und Loibach Feistritz [Drau, bei Bleiburg], Loibach 2054 Loiblbach bei Ferlach Loiblbach

Information concerning the APSFR can be found in the online flood database (“Hochwasser Fachdatenbank”) which is not open to the public yet; only members of the national and provincial flood protection departments have access. Example:

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For public information concerning natural hazards there is the HORA (Natural Hazard Overview & Risk Assessment Austria) Database. See: http://www.hora.gv.at/

For each APSFR several maps showing the inundated areas and the flow velocities (HQ30, HQ100, HQ300) have been developed. As an example the flood hazard maps for Greifenburg (one APSFR within the pilot area) are shown:

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Below is an example of the first flood risk maps (Drava at the city of Villach):

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Structural and non‐structural flood defence measures Integrated flood management means aiming to achieve the common goal ‐ i.e. protection against floods as much as possible ‐ through the sensible combination of a variety of measures available from spatial planning, structural engineering and organisation. Structural protection measures are an important part of this strategy but are not the universal remedy. Besides protection up to a certain flood volume, protective measures also include precautionary measures against residual risks as well as maintenance works. All protective measures of the Federal Water Engineering Administration have to comply with the planning principles that are strict and committed to sustainability. As shown below, the integrated and sustainable flood management of the Federal Water Engineering Administration involves a comprehensive set of instruments and measures ‐ including prevention, response and aftercare.

These following three types of measures are combined along the Drava in Austria: Preventive flood protection: The best flood protection can be achieved if floods can be prevented from developing at their origin. The danger of inundation can be reduced most effectively through natural retention of water in riparian forests and meadow lands, floodplains and undeveloped valleys areas. The better the natural retention of water the lower are high‐water levels further downstream. Many of the agricultural areas along the Drava have a natural retention function. If such areas are

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reduced (f.e. for building a road, extending a settlement), the law requires that the loss of the retention area has to be compensated in a nearby area. Technical flood protection: Technical flood protection through embankments, dams and flood storage reservoirs is indispensable. Nevertheless, such possibilities are limited and any gained safety is relative. After all, there can always be even more severe floods. Many of the settlements influenced by Drava floods have technical protection measures (mostly dikes). Still there are areas, where flood protection is necessary. Based on the Flood Directive, “APSFR (areas with potentially significant flood risk )” along the Drava and along the tributaries have been defined (as shown in the hotspot map). In these areas protection measures will be carried out in the near future. Provisions: Despite preventive and structural flood protection, always a residual risk remains that can only be minimised through appropriate provisions at all society levels: e.g. land use provisions (designation of areas), engineering provisions (flood‐compatible construction), risk provisions (insurance), behavioural provisions and timely warnings. People receive information about the various provisions.

Status of flood forecasting and early warning systems Carinthia has a flood forecasting and early warning system which is managed by the responsible government office ‐ AKL, Abt. 8 SchWW, sub department hydrology (www.ktn.gv.at/hydrographie): Hundreds of computer simulations have been done on precipitation and discharge of the Drava catchment in East Tyrol and Carinthia. These data were applied in a catalogue system for all relevant water gauges. Depending on the hydrological situation (amount, location and duration of precipitation, soil moisture, etc.) the runoff on a certain water gauge can be assessed in the model area.

The figure below shows the different flood categories for the Drava and Gail rivers (the particular river is written below each bar ‐ some are Drava tributaries).

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The catalogue indicates the risk, the type of the affected area (single object, settlement, open land) and a short description of for particular annualities. See the table below as an example:

Until now there was no coordination of hydrological data concerning floods between Austria and Slovenia. In one of the last meetings of the Austrian‐Slovenian Drava Commission it was decided to establish a “Working Group Hydrology” with members from both countries. In the future the working group should meat annually and deal with themes like gravel and sediment data and hydrological

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data. The potential partners for this working group are the AKL Dept. 8 SchWW and the ARSO – Slovenian Environment Agency.

Historical flood situations In Carinthia there is a chronicle of flood events (“Hochwasserchronik Kärnten”). Flood events from 792 until 2003 are described with paragraphs based on old records from the church, old photos and newspaper articles. Such chronicles also exist in East Tyrol. The most powerful flood events within the last 100 years were those in 1965 and 1966. On 1st September 1965, 17th August and 4th November 1966 East Tyrol, Carinthia and Upper‐Italy were affected by long heavy rain falls in combination with cold weather which caused mudflows and floods. More than 30 people died, houses, bridges, roads and railroads were destroyed and the financial damage was very high.

The images show the amount of precipitation, the darker the more precipitation:

The following map shows the villages and cities in East Tyrol and Carinthia which have been affected most by the flood events 1965/1966.

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Some old photos from these events:

Thal 1965, photo: BBA Lienz

Oberdrauburg 1965, photo: AKL, Abt. 8

Greifenburg 1965, photo: Gemeinde Greifenburg Villach 1965, photo: AKL, Abt. 8

Spittal 1965, photo: AKL, Abt. 8

Villach 1965, photo:AKL, Abt. 8

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Within the ERA‐Net CRUE‐project „Integrated flood risk governance approach for improvement of risk awareness and public participation (IMRA)” many old photos and newspaper articles were collected and digitized, also interviews with contemporary witnesses were made to save the knowledge about these events for the posterity.

The last big flood event on the Drava happened on 5th November 2012: Main damages happened in Lavamünd but major damages were recorded in Slovenia and Croatia. A project to evaluate the flood event is elaborated right now.

In the afternoon of 4th of November and during the night (5th of November) heavy rain falls in the south of Carinthia were caused by a Mediterrean low. The centre of the heavy rain falls was in the region “Karnische Alpen” and in the middle of the “Gailtal”, also in the “Karawanken”. The southern tributaries of the Drava and the Drava were affected most, floods occur. In Lavamünd a flood of an annuality of 100 years from the Drava was overlaid by a flood of an annuality of 15 to 20 years from the Lavant river. Large areas of Lavamünd were flooded. In the rest of Carinthia the damage caused by the flood was local (objects near the Pressegger See – lake) and rather small.

Lavamünd, Drava with a discharge of 2400 m³/s Photos: apa/gert eggenberger

Effects of climate change Over the last 10 years there were several big flood events across Austria. They may be related in their frequency or extent to climate change but research has not provided sufficient evidence yet. During the project Alp‐Water Scare also the study “LONG‐TERM CLIMATE OF CARINTHIA, Historical climate trends, future scenarios and climate change indices for the province of Carinthia” was elaborated. The abstract to this study is shown below:

The project Alp‐Water‐Scarce, a European project funded under the directives of the Alpine Space Programme, aims at developing a local early warning system against water scarcity in the Alps. Therefore, the project will implement water management systems at a short term scale as well as at a long term scale in the Alps based on modelling under climate change and anthropogenic scenarios.

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Within the project it is expected that in future the water‐rich Alps, in particular the Southern Alps, will be affected by severe droughts due to climate change. It is assumed that a seasonal decrease in precipitation and a redistribute ion of precipitation and groundwater recharge pattern are already the case in the Southern Alps and Central Alpine valleys. Thus, long‐term time series of certain climate parameters from well‐chosen meteorological stations in Carinthia are provided by the ZAMG to the project to analyse and interpret climatic changes in Carinthia and the Southern Alps from 1900 up to present. These climate series are supplemented by time series of Climate Change Detection Indices for a period of at least 50 years. These indices are used to analyse and interpret climatic changes also with regard to extreme values like cold and warm spells or a change in precipitation intensity, especially interesting and important for questions of availability of water in present and future. Concluding, the long‐term climatic series are completed by analyses and interpretations of a future development until the year 2100. The present report summarises these results of the ZAMG for the Alp‐Water‐Scarce community. Since 1900, the temperatures in Carinthia have risen by 1.4 to 1.6◦C, compared to an increase in the global mean of 0.8◦C. The precipitation decreased since 1900 by 13 to 22 % compared to the long‐term mean of the 20th century. But in the “greenhouse gas decades” from 1980 to 2010 the strong temperature increase in Carinthia was accompanied by a measurable precipitation increase of about 7 to 24 %. Further, for all stations in Carinthia an increase of the sunshine duration for the whole period 1900 to 2010 could be observed. The Climate Change Detection Indices show consistently less cold and more heat in the last decades in Carinthia, accompanied by a longer growing season and a slight increase in short‐term heavy rain. And this trend will continue as the temperature in Carinthia will increase by another 2.8 to 4.4◦C until the year 2100. Depending on the season and used emission scenario the future precipitation will increase by 25 to even 85 % until 2100. The general increase in winter is consistent with results and expectations from other studies in Central Europe or the Alps. The here presented increase in summer, however, is a relatively new finding, which is thitherto only supported by few other studies. Just these surprising newer model results as well as the apparent trend reversal in precipitation in the measured time series show that the climate change has to be assessed very carefully.

3.2. Water quality hazards

There are a lot of small and large communal sewage treatment plants along the Austrian Drava, whose technical standard is high, including safety measures in case of a problem of a plant. The Drava in Austria is too small for commercial navigation, so there is no pollution risk from water transport. A certain accidental pollution risk exists, however, both at operating industrial facilities and at sites contaminated by former industrial activities or of waste disposal (tailing dams, chemical dumps). For the classification of potential accident risk spots (ARS), ICPDR elaborated a common procedure

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(considering the findings of the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe; the EU Seveso II Directive and the UN/ECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents) by means of a set of Checklists for accident prevention. The presence of a plant or site in the inventory only reflects a potential threat. By using the harmonized Checklists, the actual risk to the environment can be determined more accurately by assessing the effectiveness of existing safety measures in a thorough site analysis. A UNDP/GEF‐ funded pilot project (2006) focused on the application of checklist in operating industrial sites, reviewing the Checklists for the Investigation and Risk Assessment of Contaminated Sites in Flood Risk Areas as well as the UNECE Safety Guidelines and Good Practises for Tailing Management Facilities. As a result, since 2007 all suspected contaminated sites in the Danube Basin are assessed in two steps: First, the risk identification (pre‐assessment) in flood risk areas considers the properties (waste type) and quantities of substances used or stored at a site (M1 methodology). The substance properties determine the Water Risk Class (WRC) which – in combination with the amount of used/stored substances – determines the Water Risk Index (WRI), the quantitative indicator of the risk: For M1‐value higher or equal 47, further investigations are necessary by taking into account the flooding potential and the safety measures via the M2 methodology. The M2 methodology then assesses the flooding potential and safety measures at the site in order to classify and prioritise the contaminated sites for which preventive and remediation measures have to be set to enhance the safety level of a site (e.g. priority class 1 = very high, 2 = high). In 2010 it became evident that ICPDR has to review and update this ARS list and the shown WRI.

Based on the ICPDR inventory of hot spots in the Danube River Basin prepared by the Austrian Federal Environmental Agency Ltd., (Umweltbundesamt) (http://www.undp‐ drp.org/pdf/2.3_M2%20Methodology%20‐%20phase%202/2.3_M2%20methodology‐FR_Nov06incl‐ anx.pdf) the following high risk sites had been identified in 2006 in the Drava catchment in Austria:

Number Region Recei‐ Location / Site type Hazardous M1 M2 ICPDR County ving name Time frame of use substances value class inventory river Size/volume (registry no.) Glan Industry site 12 Carinthia (tributar Leather factory 1930‐90 Chromium 57 4 (K22) Klagenfurt y of Neuner 12 ha Gurk) CHC Gurk Chemical primary Carinthia (trichlorethen, 16 (tributar Donau Chemie industry Sankt Veit tetrachlorethen, 56 3 (K5) y of Brückl since 1909 an der Glan hexachlor‐ Drava) 50 ha butadien) 21 Carinthia Gurk Althofen Industry waste Metals, 55 4 (K7) Sankt Veit (tributar Landfill since 1922 mineralisation

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an der Glan y of Roßwiese 500,000 m³ Drava) Industry wastes, CHC Gurk Carinthia building waste, (tetrachlorethen, 22 (tributar Lime dump Sankt Veit excavation mat. trichlor‐ethen, 51 4 (K20) y of site Brückl I/II an der Glan seit 1930 hexa‐ Drava) 250,000 m³ chlorbutadien) Industry 57 Carinthia deposit Industry waste Magnesium, m1 < Drava 42 (K21) Villach Land Heraklithwerk since 1914 Sulfate 47 e Ferndorf

3.3. Droughts

In general there are differences in the amount of precipitation along the Drava in Austria. From Sillian to Spittal the annual precipitation is around 1500 mm, while near Villach and Klagenfurt the annual precipitation is at 1000 to 1250 mm. Downstream of Klagenfurt the annual precipitation is much lower (750 mm per year). The following image (www.zamg.ac.at) shows the annual amount of precipitation.

By contrast, the winter 2011/2011 was extremely dry: From October 2011 until March 2012 there was up to 80% less precipitation (f.e. at the Lavant valley, near Lavamünd) than in normal winter periods. This was one of the driest winters over the last 70 years. By opposite, the current spring 2013 is very wet.

The webpage of the Central Agency for Meteorology and Geodynamics (www.zamg.ac.at) provides information, data and diagrams on climate. As an example the precipitation around Klagenfurt in Carinthia is shown for the period January 2011 until May 2013:

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For agriculture along the Drava River, especially for the local production of corn and crops, periods with low precipitation cause harvest losses. So far such periods lasted only a few months. If the dry periods get longer, serious problems for agriculture can emerge.

4. SPATIAL ANALYSIS

This project is focusing on the river corridor, a spatial entity that can be defined as the area under direct influence of the river. This influence might be ‐ of physical character (e.g. the flood‐prone areas), or ‐ due to ecological, environmental, economic or functional connections. Although the previous chapters were already exploring and analysing different aspects of the river corridor, this mostly remained a notion, rather than a spatially defined area. This chapter intends to review and synthesize the spatial representations of the resource and risk elements, as described in Chapters 2 and 3, and give an overview of the procedure that resulted in the delineation of the Drava

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River Corridor within the pilot area and along the Drava River in Austria. The spatial analysis includes the following elements (with a short description of the present situation below and in the subsequent chapters):

Drava river bank and levees/dikes In Austria the Drava can be divided into particular stretches concerning the types of river bank reinforcement. Below these particular stretches are described with a few details:

Stretch of the Drava Location Short description Border to Italy – downstream of Sillian Rkm 665 to rkm 657 Rather wide bed of the Drava valley, along the Drava (tributary of Villgratenbach) there are levees; Tributary of Villgratenbach to Leisach Rkm 657 to rkm 634 Residual flow in the Drava, no levees, narrow river bed (hydropower station Strassen‐Amlach) (flows in some stretches in a kind of a canyon), in some areas the river bed is wide (gravel storages); Leisach to Lienz and then to Rkm 634 to rkm 615 From Leisach to Lienz the river banks are regulated, there Oberdrauburg are small levees and protection walls; one stretch is subject to flush flows; From Lienz downstream to Oberdrauburg there are big levees (HQ100), the bed of the Drava valley is wide and an important area for agricultural use Oberdrauburg to Sachsenburg Rkm 615 to rkm 550 There are no more levees, the river bed is regulated but (hydropower plant Malta Unterstufe) some years ago about 17 km of the river banks have and then to Molzbichl/Paternion been restored (f.e. LIFE‐projects). 5 to 10 years flood events cause inundation of the valley floor; in Sachsenburg there is the junction with the water of the Malta Unterstufe hydropower plant– flush flows; downstream to Molzbichl there are also restoration measures along the river banks; the free‐flowing stretch ends in Molzbich/Paternion Molzbichl/Paternion to Lavamünd Rkm 550 to rkm 407 There are the 10 hydropower plants of the Verbund group; with more or less big levees along the reservoirs; no more free‐flowing stretch; in some stretches the “river bed reservoirs” are narrow, in others rather wide – depending on the morphological situation; near Villach/Rosegg there is one short stretch of residual flow;

Reservoirs, impounded sections within the river: As described before and in chapter 2.3 from Molzbich/Paternion downstream to Lavamünd there are 10 hydropower plants of the Verbund group with no free‐flowing stretch in‐between.

Side‐branches, oxbow lakes and tributary confluences along the river For decades there were almost no more side‐branches and oxbow lakes along the Drava but with the LIFE‐project and some other projects some new side‐branches and old oxbows have been created/restored over the last years (f.e. Radlach, Obergottesfeld, Rosenheim, Amlach/St. Peter, images: AKL Abt. 8/Tichy);

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Along the stretch of hydropower plants there is the oxbow Rosegg which is particularly valuable in nature conservation terms, although it is a residual flow stretch (see the image below, source: Google earth)

Location of artificial flood control elements in the river or along the river bank Along the entire Drava construction measures were undertaken to regulate and stabilize the river bed and river banks (by big rocks, groins, levees, guiding walls). As described before, specific stretches have been restored few years ago (especially from Oberdrauburg to Molzbichl/Paternion). Although there are flood protection measures, flood risks still exist in some areas (see the description in chapter 3.1 and the map of hot spots).

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Flood risk areas, historical flood zones As described in chapter 3.1 inundation areas are attributed to flood volumes (HQ30, HQ100, HQ300) and further presented in hazard maps and risk maps according to the Flood Directive. Also historical flood events have been described (see also the map of hot spots ).

Extent of groundwater aquifer: As described in chapter 2.3, the groundwater aquifer along the Drava is defined by the location of Quaternary valley sediments – post‐glacial loose sediments. Chapter 2.3 provides further information.

Natura 2000 area The Natura 2000 area “Obere Drau” covers, running from west to east, a nearly 70 km long river section of the Drava from Oberdrauburg to Molzbichl near the Drava dam Paternion, east of Spittal a. d. Drau (see chapter 2.2).

Municipalities – spatial development/floods For each municipality there is a spatial development plan. For the risk maps (Flood Directive), the building areas have been overlaid with the flooded areas. Further information can be found in chapter 3.1 and in the map of hot spots .

Infrastructure development Along the Drava river corridor there are small and major roads, railways and the Drava cycling path. In particular areas these infrastructure objects may be affected by floods (see the map of hot spots). Along the Drava in the pilot area a particular part of the road B100 will be rebuilt (upgraded) in the next years: The related project development and environmental impact assessment are going on, the specific date, when the road will be rebuilt is not defined yet.

Land use (agriculture) The description of land use is given in chapter 2.5. Agriculture is one of the most important types of land use within the Drava flood plain.

The following steps were made to define the Austrian Drava corridor: The wider corridor is defined by the area covered by the 52 Drava‐neighbouring communes, their catchment areas of tributaries and the local land use. The extent of the settlement areas in the municipalities depends on location of tributaries (historically known risk areas for floods, mudflows), of the Drava floodplain and the agricultural land use. As a result the settlement areas are rather small. Particular flood risk areas were recently defined in official maps (APSFR – areas of potential significant flood risk, see chapter 3.1).

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More precisely, the Drava corridor in Austria is defined by the following data:  Floodplain of the HQ300 space, also showing HQ100 and HQ30 for the Drava and the most important tributaries  Any Natura 2000 area  Areas assigned as (potential) settlements  River‐related groundwater bodies (defined by the area of Quaternary valley sediments – post‐glacial loose sediments)

The following further Information is shown within the corridor (hot spots where future measures should be implemented)  Extent of the APSFR (areas of potential significant flood risk)  Location of hydropower plants and stretches with residual flows, river reservoir stretches, stretches subject to flush flows)  Railway lines, roads, cycling paths  Barriers for fish migration along the Drava dams  Hot spots for potential water quality hazards  Stretches of river bed erosion

To define the corridor, GIS data concerning the different themes are available. This GIS data (layer) can be seen in the map of hot spots.

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5. INSTITUTIONAL SETUP ANALYSIS

Subject of this chapter is the analysis of those public bodies and authorities – from now on called public institutions – that are involved in policy formulation, environmental or water permitting and regulation, bilateral or multilateral international negotiations related to the Drava River Corridor. The analysis provides an overview of public institutions at local, regional/national and international level and their roles. Special emphasis is given to the procedures these institutions follow on regulating water or nature protection related activities, on generating, selecting, funding projects, and on their potential involvement in multi‐sectoral agreements related to the Drava River Corridor management. It is important to differentiate between stakeholders and public institutions. From the point of view of this Analysis Report, stakeholders are defined as those entities that carry out activities or projects and execute a resulting river corridor use, while public institutions have the mandate to regulate such activities. There might be cases, where these functions are mixed or overlap: Then, the same entity is listed both as an institution and a stakeholder.

Public institutions relevant in the Drava River Corridor The following public institutions are relevant for the management of the Drava River Corridor:

Name of Level of Mandate Transnational Sector Remarks Institution operation connections transnational, authority, bilateral, water Relevance in the national/regional, consultation multilateral management, DRC from the local body, etc. nature point of view of conservation, stakeholder environment, consultations agriculture, etc. and Multisectoral Agreements Carinthia AKL SchWW (Flood regional, local authority bilateral River Local flood Protection) management, protection and flood protection river restoration projects AKL Spatial Planning regional, local authority bilateral Spatial planning Monitors spatial development AKL Nature regional, local authority bilateral Nature Management of conservation conservation all protected areas and species (N2000) AKL Water regional, local authority bilateral Water Monitors water management management management planning (WFD) AKL Ecology of regional, local authority bilateral River Monitors water

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Waters management management (WFD) AKL Agriculture regional, local authority bilateral Agriculture Support of Projects and farmer/land owner WLV (torrent & regional, local authority bilateral Protection from Projects in the avalanche control) natural hazards vicinity of and Carinthia with impact on Drava corridor Tyrol SchWW (water regional, local authority bilateral River Local flood protection and management, protection and ecology of waters) flood protection river restoration projects ATL Spatial Planning regional, local authority bilateral Spatial planning Monitors the spatial development ATL Nature regional, local authority bilateral Nature Management of conservation conservation all protected areas and species ATL Ecology of regional, local authority bilateral River Monitors water Waters management management (WFD) WLV (torrent & regional, local authority bilateral Protection of Projects in the avalanche control) natural hazards vicinity of and East Tyrol with impact on Drava corridor ATL Agriculture regional, local authority bilateral Agriculture Support of Projects and farmer/land owner National/Federal BMLFUW Nature transnational, authority bilateral, Nature River / wetland conservation national multilateral conservation projects, national parks, LIFE, SEE River), Ramsar Convention BMLFUW Water transnational, authority bilateral, River and water Coordination of management, flood national multilateral management, WFD, Flood Dir. protection flood protection Drava Border Waters transnational Governmental bilateral Coordination Coordination Commission consultation and monitoring and monitoring of bilateral of bilateral body Drava water Drava water issues issues Abbreviations: AKL and ATL = Provincial Governments of Carinthia resp. Tyrol; BMLFUW = Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Protection

In the following paragraphs the structural organisation of flood protection in Austria is explained: The national organisation and structure of flood protection in Austria is divided into three parts. This is due to the legal requirements, the diversity of landscapes, and the regionally (Provinces) different responsibilities:

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 Management of water bodies  Torrent control and  Maintenance and development of waterways. These three areas of responsibility are assigned to the following administrative units:  The Federal Water Engineering Administration is responsible for the coordinating management of all waters (except waterways and torrents). It does so in cooperation with provincial authorities and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (Department VII 5 ‐ Water Management and Flood Protection) (also see contacts and competent authorities).  Torrents for which boundaries are defined by ordinance fall into the responsibility of the Forest Engineering Service on Torrent and Avalanche Control at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management.  The rivers Danube, March/Morava and Thaya/Dyje are also used as waterways and fall in terms of flood protection into the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT).

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6. PROJECT ANALYSIS

During the work on the Analysis Report a database of past, ongoing, and planned development and nature conservation projects was constructed, covering both national and international projects. In this chapter a short description of the relevant projects is given and in tabular form the main characteristics (name of the project, project theme, progress phase, geographical scale, country relevance, scope and results in physical dimensions, level of integration, stakeholder involvement, cost category, date of completion, potential threats and benefits) listed.

Many projects and measures have been implemented along the Drava in Austria, especially in the pilot area (2 LIFE projects and many others). A draft list with a sample of the most important projects is attached as xls‐file. At the national stakeholder workshop (13th of June 2013, Sachsenburg) all participants are asked to complement this list. Afterwards the completed list will be presented here.

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7. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

In this chapter a concise description of the stakeholder identification process and some of its results are provided. The aim of the stakeholder analysis is the identification of individuals, companies, interest groups or other organisations that have an interest connected to development or conservation projects within the Drava River Corridor; either in a supportive way (initiating, carrying out the project, etc.) or objecting against it (based on conflicting interests, such as ownership or environmental grounds). The purpose of the analysis is to understand stakeholder aspirations in order to be able to propose sound solutions for conflicts among development and conservation goals. Thus, the results of the stakeholder analysis will be primarily utilized within the consensus‐building stakeholder participation process that will take place in a subsequent phase (Activity 4.3) of the SEE River project. For respecting privacy and business interest reasons, only a fraction of the stakeholder analysis results is presented in this public report.

7.1. Methodology of stakeholder identification

As a general rule, stakeholder identification cannot be successful on the base of a single assessment and a quickly concluded “closed” list. It rather needs careful and iterative reflections (scoping) on who are the key players and best representatives for a specific involvement process. This identification should rather be inclusive than exclusive, and it may include correction of already identified stakeholders (adding, replacing or deleting some) which is often based on the feedback from contacted stakeholders. When identifying stakeholders for a new involvement process, those identified and involved in the past should be taken into account but others may be also or more suitable. AKL ‐ SchWW has already over 20 years of experience with stakeholder involvement. First key project was the Integrated River Development Scheme (e.g. “Gewässerentwicklungskonzept Obere Drau» (1998). Further, AKL coordinated pilot actions on different pilot areas within two LIFE projects. Together with local partners, project managers, nature conservation and agricultural authorities, good results have been achieved for the people living in the Drava Valley and for the Drava environment. During the entire project several activities served to inform and involve stakeholders (local schools, universities or foreign experts). During most planning processes for river development measures, all relevant stakeholders were involved (meetings, excursions to the construction sites, etc.).

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Other experiences with stakeholder involvement were gained in recent work on integrated management with respect to the Water Framework Directive, the Flood Directive and Natura 2000 management as well as with the Integrative Protective Water Management Spatial Development Plan (SREP): At workshops and "round tables" stakeholders receive information about the project status, then discuss their concerns and ideas and agree on the result. This experience also showed that in previous stakeholder involvement processes, some groups feel that they have not been (sufficiently) involved. The SEE River project is one opportunity to improve.

7.2. Identified stakeholders

The list and short characterisation of all identified Austrian stakeholders is contained in the table below. It contains all relevant stakeholders of the Carinthian pilot area, and also those that have a major role in other parts of the Drava river corridor.

Stakeholders identified in the Austrian Drava River Corridor (List to be completed after the Austrian Drava workshop on 13th of June) Name of Sector Organisational Scope of Related Involvement Stakeholder category operation project in stakeholder participation process water private enterprise, transnational, name and location identified management, citizens group/NGO, national/regional, of project stakeholder, flood protection, local government, local participant of nature regional/national local/national conservation, government agency, stakeholder environment, sectoral association, workshop, etc. agriculture, etc. forestry, industry, tourism, navigation, real estate development, hydropower, culture, etc. Carinthia AKL SchWW (Flood flood protection regional Regional Local flood Co‐host Protection) government protection and river restoration projects AKL Spatial Spatial Planning regional Regional Monitors the spatial Invited / registered Planning government development AKL Nature Nature regional Regional Management of all Invited / registered conservation conservation government protected areas and species (N2000) AKL Water water regional Regional Monitors water Invited / registered management management government management (WFD) planning AKL Ecology of Ecology of waters regional Regional Monitors water Invited / registered Waters government management (WFD) Conservation Nature regional Regional Management of all Invited / registered Council conservation government protected areas and

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species (N2000) Inspectorate for agriculture regional Local/Regional Coordination and Invited / registered Fisheries government survey of all water bodies with registered fisheries WLV (torrent & Natural disaster Regional body of Local/regional Projects in the Invited / registered avalanche control) management the national vicinity of and with government agency impact on the Drava Carinthia corridor Verbund Industry, Public company National Operation and Invited / registered hydropower development of Drava HPPs Tourism Region Tourism Local body of the Local Common tourism Invited / registered Upper Drava sectoral association projects along the Drava Valley Tourism Inter‐ Tourism Association of local Local Directly affected by Invited / registered communal communes any pilot area (mayors) development cooperation Upper Drava Tourism Tourism entrepreneur Local Common tourism Invited / registered (Outdoorpark) projects along the Drava pilot area Agricultural Agriculture sectoral association Local Possibly affected by Invited / registered Chamber any pilot area development Sachsenburg communes local government Local Directly affected by Co‐host any pilot area development ARGE Naturschutz Nature NGO Regional Observer of many Invited / registered Kärnten conservation projects Chamber of All types of sectoral association Regional Indirectly affected Invited / registered Business business by any pilot area development

Tyrol Invited / registered SchWW (Water flood protection, regional Regional Local flood Invited / registered Protection and water government protection and river management restoration projects ecology of waters) ATL Spatial Spatial Planning regional Regional Monitors the spatial Invited / registered Planning government development ATL Nature nature regional Regional Management of all Invited / registered conservation conservation government protected areas and species ATL Ecology of Ecology of waters regional Regional Monitors water Invited / registered Waters government management (WFD) WLV (torrent & Natural disaster Regional body of Local/regional Projects in the Invited / registered avalanche control) management national vicinity of and with government impact on the Drava East Tyrol corridor TIWAG Industry, Public company National Operation and Invited / registered hydropower development of HPPs Local Planning Spatial planning Local government Local Coordination and Invited / registered Corporation execution of spatial plans in Sillian, Lienz Plattform environment NGO Local/regional Lobbying for river Invited / registered Netzwerk Wasser protection and against new hydro‐ Osttirol power projects in the Drava catchment

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Agricultural Agriculture sectoral association Local Possibly affected by Invited / registered Chamber any pilot area development Chamber of All types of sectoral association Regional Indirectly affected Invited / registered Business business by any pilot area development Fisheries agriculture NGO Local Owners of local Invited / registered fishing rights Tourism East Tyrol tourism Local body of the Local Tourism Invited / registered sectoral association development Kayak Club East recreation NGO Local River user Invited / registered Tyrol Österreichischer Nature NGO Regional/national Observer of many Invited / registered Alpenverein conservation, projects in the spatial planning upper catchment

National/Federal BMLFUW Nature Government National SEE RIVER, LIFE, Co‐host conservation (Ministry) Ramsar Convention BMLFUW Water Government National WFD, Flood Dir. Invited / registered management, (Ministry) flood protection Drava Border Cross‐border Government Transnational Coordination and Invited / registered water monitoring of Waters management bilateral Drava Commission water issues BoKu Institute of Applied research university Local to Flood and sediment Invited / registered Water Management, international management pro‐ Hydrology and jects on the Drava Hydraulic Engineering Hydrophil IC Water Consultant Local to One of the experts Invited / registered management international working on the Austrian Drava pilot project WWF Nature NGO Transnational LIFE, Mura‐Drava‐ Invited / registered conservation, Danube Trans‐ environment bound. Biosphere Res. International South Tyrol Water Government Regional SEE Partner; Invited / registered management, upstream Drava flood protection water management

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8. MAP OF HOT SPOTS

A map of conflicting river corridor uses has been constructed that is making use of the results of Chapters 2 and 3 on resources and risks – with special emphasis on nature values, conservation goals and economic resources, on flood and water quality risks, including their spatial relationships as established in Chapter 4, more‐over on the spatial information of development projects (or aspirations) addressed in Chapter 6. In the pilot area the conflict spots or zones were identified in a profound way, while on the rest of the DRC potential conflicts zones were assigned in a more indicative manner, using the available, less detailed data and extrapolations. Conflict locations are categorised and marked separately by type (e.g. conservation versus river training, versus flood control, versus tourism, etc.) and significance. The map of hot spots prepared within the 5 National Drava River Corridor Analysis Reports will be merged into a map of the whole DRC.

The map of hot spots for the Drava in Austria is attached in a pdf version.

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9. SYNERGIES AND CONFLICT ANALYSIS – ELABORATION LATER

Based on the database of projects and the results of the institutional and stakeholder analysis, the possible synergies and conflicts among projects and stakeholder aspiration will be analysed in this chapter. Proposed means of the analysis will be the synergy table and the conflict table constructed on known or estimated characteristics of development projects and nature conservation measures, plans. Using these tables, possible synergies and conflicts between/among different categories of projects can be cross‐examined. Based on the above tables, a more concrete analysis of the actual projects will be given in this chapter.

This is just a reminder of what the Analysis Report in its extended form will contain. This chapter need not be elaborated in the first issue of the Report. The total length of this chapter should be about 2‐3 pages.

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10. FEASIBLE MEASURES – ELABORATION LATER

The aim of this chapter is to offer a set of feasible measures, which can be applied in the course of the project for  the stakeholder involvement and consensus building process;  the resolution of particular conflicts;  promoting integrated river corridor management approaches;  reshaping project ideas to have better local/regional/international acceptance, to be eligible for financing schemes, to reconcile with other sectoral or stakeholder aspiration. Some of the proposed measures do concern processes, like stakeholder involvement, consensus building, conflict resolution, while others concern project content, and it was worthwhile to differentiate between the two categories. The Analysis Report is not intended to come up with decisions, this is definitely in the hands of the stakeholders and the public authorities responsible for policies and licensing. Therefore it was necessary to offer a choice of potential measures the interested parties might select from.

10.1. Process oriented measures

Introduce here those measures that can help the consensus building process aimed at Action 4.2 (Agreement on common vision, goals and measures), and are relevant in the case of the pilot area (and for the national DRC).

10.2. Project content related measures

Introduce here those project content elements that might help reshaping contradictory project ideas relevant in the case of the pilot area (and for the national DRC).

Little can said about actual measures at this phase of the project, when the pilot area status is not known in its full detail. Apart from own ideas generated by a better insight of the pilot area, the authors will be able to rely also on the ‐ best practices identified and ‐ elements of the Toolkit developed within Work Package 3.

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This is just a reminder of what the Analysis Report in its extended form will contain. This chapter need not be elaborated in the first issue of the Report. The total length of this chapter should be about 3 pages.

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11. PROGRESS INDICATORS AND BENCHMARKS – ELABORATION LATER

Progress indicators are the means to measure the distance between a past and a present or future status, with reference of the fulfilment of certain goals. In this case the goals were derived from the objectives of the Drava River Declaration. Most of these objectives are rather general and worded in an easily perceptible manner, therefore the indicators have also be kept as simple as possible, to be in accordance with the comprehensive nature of the Declaration. As a response to the 10 DRV goals, river corridor status might be analysed through the following indicators: 1. Intergovernmental policy integration indicator 2. Flood warning indicator 3. Water retention indicator 4. River and floodplain restoration indicator 5. Biotope network indicator 6. Migratory fish connectivity indicator 7. Cross‐border recreation indicator 8. Riparian country cooperation indicator 9. Integrated river basin management indicator 10. Stakeholder partnership indicator

The definition of the indicators can be found in Appendix 1 of this Report.

As the Declaration was signed in 2008, we are accounting progress between 2008 and 2012 (or 2013). In this respect, progress indicators show, how far the region got in the direction of the 10 objectives since 2008. Progress is quantified by the indicators, but fulfilment of the goals is in many cases the matter of qualitative categories. These categories are denoted by benchmarks.

By definition, the indicator’s scope is the whole of the Drava River Corridor. Nevertheless they can be applied to any part of it, even to the pilot area. They can be adapted by setting the indicator’s reference variables (river length, river corridor area, number of projects, number of river disconnections, etc.) to that of the pilot area.

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12. REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

The NDRCAR covers a broad range of topics, and draws upon several types of sectoral, international, regional, and local documents and plans. This Report has been based on the following references:

Sectoral documents  Water management and flood protection strategy  Nature conservation policy  River development scheme for the Drava in East Tyrol and Carinthia

International documents  Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood risks  Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water  Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora  Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds and its codified update:  Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds

Regional documents  WFD River Basin Management Plans  Regional Flood Risk Management Plans  Regional Spatial Development Plans  Tourism strategy along the Drava  etc.

Local documents  Municipal and communal spatial development plans  Natura 2000 Management Plans  Projects along the Drava river (f.e. LIFE I and LIFE II in the pilot area)  GIS data from the GIS departments of the Tyrolean and Carinthian government  Identification of hazard zones

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Further information Nachtnebel, H.P, Graf, M., Habersack, H.M., 1993. Gewässerbetreuungskonzept Obere Drau, Arbeitspaket Flussmorphologie.

Habersack,H.M., Schober, St., Formann, E., Beheshti,K.,Daniczek,M., 2003. Flussmorphologisches Monitoring im Rahmen des LIFE Projektes “Obere Drau”. (Hrsg.): BMLFUW: 20. Flussbautagung LIFE‐SYMPOSIUM: Gewässerbetreuung und die EU‐ Wasserrahmenrichtlinie‐ Umsetzung am Beispiel von LIFE Projekten, Sept. 2003, Spittal/Drau, Wien (ISBN 3‐85 174‐47‐5).

Habersack, H.M., Nachtnebel, H.P., 1994. Analysis of sediment transport developments in relation to human impacts. International Symposium on Variability in Stream Erosion and Sediment Transport. IAHS Publ., vol. 224 (Canberra, Australia)

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