Local Communities and Challenges of Torrential Floods Local Communities and Challenges of Torrential Floods Manual for local communities and civil society organisations Publisher: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Mission to Serbia Authors: Milutin Stefanović, Institute for Development of Water Resources "Jaroslav Cerni", Belgrade Zoran Gavrilović, Institute for Development of Water Resources "Jaroslav Cerni", Belgrade MSc. Ratko Bajčetić, Serbian Association of Torrent Control Experts, Belgrade Design: comma|communications design Print: Fiducia 011 Print Number of copies: 200 June 2015 ISBN 978-86-6383-026-4 Note: The views expressed in this study are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the OSCE Mission to Serbia. Local Communities and Challenges of Torrential Floods Milutin Stefanović Zoran Gavrilović MSc. Ratko Bajčetić Contents Foreword 7 1. Introduction to Challenges of Torrential Floods 13 Emergence of floods and torrents 14 2. Erosion and Erosive Areas 17 2.1. State of Erosion and Torrents in Serbia 18 2.2. Erosion Register Sheets and Areas at Risk 21 2.3. Erosive Sediment Production 22 2.4. Identification of Areas at Risk of Erosion 23 3. Floods 27 3.1. Causes and Types of Flood 28 3.2. Torrential Floods 30 3.3. Structures for Protection from Adverse Effects of Water 33 3.4. Active Flood Defence 37 3.5. Flexibility of Flood Management Strategy 42 4. Flood Risk 43 4.1. Flood Damage 44 4.2. Flood Hazard 44 4.3. Receptors and Emitters 44 4.4. Risk of Floods and Torrential Floods 45 5. Torrents 49 5.1. Overview of Major Torrential Floods in Serbia 49 6. Obligations and Possibilities of Local Self-governments 55 6.1. Division of Competences and Obligation of Participation in Anti-Erosion Works and Measures 55 6.2. Obligations of Local Self-government in Determination of Flood Zones 56 6.3. Obligations of Local Self-governments and Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of Torrential Floods 58 6.4. RHMSS as Support to Timely Response to Torrents – Possibilities and Limitations 59 6.5. Real-Time Warning of Torrential Floods 61 7. Role of Civil Society Organisations in Flood Issues 63 7.1. Availability of Information 63 7.2. CSO in Serbian and International Legislative Frameworks 64 7.3. Water Framework Directive – Effects on Floods and CSO 64 7.4. Example: Cooperation between CSOs and Public Sector in the Field of Waters in Japan 64 7.5. Recommendations for CSOs Related to Flooding and Flood Risk Reduction 65 8. Literature 67 Foreword I Cataclysm in Serbia! Torrents; Floods; Flood Risk; Obligations and Possi- Floods cause massive destruction - where to flee? bilities for Local Self-governments and the Role of Krupanj is destroyed by a huge torrential flow. Tor- Civil Society Organizations in Flood Issues. rent in Tekija destroys everything before it. Floods The Manual is a unique document that highlights in 2014 affected 1,6 million people in Serbia, 32,000 the strategic importance of the role of local au- people were evacuated from their homes, 5,000 re- thorities in creating “flood resilient communities”. quired temporary shelter in camps, health facili- A section of the Manual is dedicated to engaging ties, schools and agricultural land was heavily af- the civil society in raising awareness of local com- fected. Total damages and losses were estimated as munities in disaster risk reduction and the impor- 1,525 billion Euros. On 15 May the Government de- tance of their co-operation and partnership with clared a state of emergency for its entire territory. elected officials, to create a “culture of prepared- ness”. The Manual is intended to be a straight-for- Do we still want to read this type of news and re- ward resource which allows the user to enforce ports? Flooding is generally accepted as a natu- plans and policies, with minimum effort, for most ral phenomenon that cannot be completely con- torrential floods risk management schemes. trolled. Are we going to settle with fate or bar- I’d like to congratulate the authors for developing tender ways to deal with the disaster? the Manual. I hope its content will be an inspira- NO! We can do something to minimize flood haz- tion for the readers and will prompt their engage- ard and risk. We can do something to face torren- ment in torrential risk management – especial- tial hazards. ly at local level and contribute to mitigating tor- So, what we can do? We need systemic, not spo- rential and erosion risks. This Manual could also radic decisions. be used beyond the borders of Serbia, considering In a context of rapid urbanization and climate that the entire Balkan region is faced with a com- changes, the occurrence of intense hydrological mon problem – torrential floods. events will increase. Since the last decade of the 20th century, hazards caused by hydrological phe- Good luck! nomenon in the Balkans have become increasing- ly serious, resulting in negative impact to the pop- ulation, economy, natural and cultural heritage. Dr Ivan Blinkov, full professor The Manual: “Local communities and challeng- Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, es of torrential floods”, is comprised of the follow- Faculty of Forestry in Skopje, ing chapters including: Introduction to Challeng- Department of Land and Water es of Torrential Floods; Erosion and Erosive Areas; [email protected] Historical overview of erosion and torrent control; http://www.sf.ukim.edu.mk/vraboteni/blinkov/index1.htm Milutin Stefanović | Zoran Gavrilović | MSc. Ratko Bajčetić 7 II Dear reader, the fact that you have taken this pub- of all available and coordinating activities for pre- lication into your hands and intend to view its con- vention or mitigation of a potential natural disas- tent fills me with great pleasure and expectation. ter. The mission of all of us dealing with flood pro- It is written for each one of us, in other words - for tection is to bring this integrated strategy to life, the good of the people. In my humble opinion, you through risk communication and risk dialogue. are holding (or browsing an e-version), an honest And how can we achieve this? Every page of the and open call to all of us to cooperate and make Manual describes it! progress in the field of protection against floods, The authors remind us that we live in a constant- torrents and erosion in Serbia, and beyond. I also ly changing environment, subject to an array of hope it will be accepted as a source of further in- varying conditions, both natural (geomorphologi- spiration and ideas on the demanding path of es- cal changes) and human (land use); however, cer- tablishing our sustainable coexistence in a given tain natural laws remain unchanged, particular- natural environment. ly those related to flooding, torrential and ero- Of course, it is difficult not to mention the disas- sion processes. These processes and phenomena trous floods in May 2014, the consequences of are sporadic and not fully predictable. Their caus- which, Serbia will have to cope with for a long es can be human (urban construction), or envi- time, as its toll was the loss of human lives, which ronmental (weather conditions). Due to the mul- is incomparable to any other damage. I wish to tiplicity of factors affecting such events it is not express my sincere condolences to the families of and can not be an exact science that guarantees the victims and appeal to all of you to draw les- the safety of individuals and property. However, sons from this experience, which the affected by applying sound engineering principles that pro- communities in Serbia have paid a heavy price for. vide a predictable range of parameters and by im- It is time to jointly take advantage of this opportu- plementing well-designed protection measures, nity to improve practices, at state and local levels, that will take into account the remaining residu- for future flood events in the field of prevention, al risk and possibility of overloading cases (e.g. due preparedness, response and reconstruction. to undesired climate change scenarios), by contin- The four aforementioned activities, present a well- uously enforcing life-cycle management practices, known axis that describes the concept of integrat- inspection and maintenance of implemented mea- ed risk management. For many people, especial- sures, the risks of injury and loss of property can ly for residents in flood-prone areas, it may sound be significantly reduced. like a phrase, repeatedly uttered by numerous na- The Manual places particular emphasis on torren- tional and international experts and officials. Cur- tial and erosion processes and phenomena. Even rently; however, it is unanimously recognized as during the recent catastrophic floods these events the only possible way ahead that requires the use were the cause of more than half of the total dam- Milutin Stefanović | Zoran Gavrilović | MSc. Ratko Bajčetić 9 age. Due to their specificity, especially because EU Flood Directive from 2007. Also, the EU Civ- they are difficult to predict at local level, these il Protection Mechanism contributes significant- are rapidly developing processes with very short ly to a more comprehensive and cooperative ap- warning time, thus the possibility to act before the proach in Flood Risk Management. If there is a event represents a significant risk to human life field where the flow of ideas, knowledge, experi- and requires a specific approach, unlike manage- ence and mutual assistance is so open and border- ment of flooding of large rivers. The Manual offers less, it’s flood risk management. Together we can a number of practical, tested solutions that suc- do more; of course; however, each one of us needs cessfully address this problem.