Action Programme, the ICPDR Decided in 2000 to Establish the Long-Term Action Programme for Sustainable Flood Prevention in the Danube River Basin
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!£¥©ØÆ 0≤Øß≤°≠≠• /¶ ¥®• )Æ¥•≤Æ°¥©ØÆ°¨ #Ø≠≠©≥≥©ØÆ ¶Ø≤ ¥®• 0≤Ø¥•£¥©ØÆ Ø¶ ¥®• $°Æµ¢• 2©∂•≤ ¶Ø≤ 3µ≥¥°©Æ°¢¨• &¨Øا 0≤Ø¥•£¥©ØÆ 4®• $°Æµ¢• 3µ¢¢°≥©Æ ض ¥®• )ÆÆ !£¥©ØÆ 0≤Øß≤°≠≠• /¶ ¥®• )Æ¥•≤Æ°¥©ØÆ°¨ #Ø≠≠©≥≥©ØÆ ¶Ø≤ ¥®• 0≤Ø¥•£¥©ØÆ Ø¶ ¥®• $°Æµ¢• 2©∂•≤ ¶Ø≤ 3µ≥¥°©Æ°¢¨• &¨Øا 0≤Ø¥•£¥©ØÆ 3µ¢2•∞Ø≤¥ ØÆ ¥®• $°Æµ¢• 3µ¢¢°≥©Æ /¶ ¥®• )ÆÆ 4°¢¨• ض #ØÆ¥•Æ¥≥ ).42/$5#4)/. 1.1 THE REASON FOR THE STUDY ................................................................................................................ 5 1.2 THE AIM OF THE “INN” SUB-REPORT .................................................................................................... 6 #(!2!#4%2)3!4)/. /& 4(% #522%.4 3)45!4)/. 4!2'%4 3%44).'3 3.1 LONG-TERM FLOOD PROTECTION STRATEGY .......................................................................................11 3.2 REGULATIONS ON LAND USE AND SPATIAL PLANNING .........................................................................15 3.3 REACTIVATION AND CREATION OF NEW NATURAL FLOOD RETENTION CAPACITIES ............................21 3.4 TECHNICAL FLOOD DEFENCES ..............................................................................................................23 3.5 PREVENTIVE ACTIONS – OPTIMISING FLOOD FORECASTING AND THE FLOOD WARNING SYSTEM ........36 3.6 CAPACITY BUILDING OF PROFESSIONALS..............................................................................................44 3.7 RAISING AWARENESS AND PREPAREDNESS OF GENERAL PUBLIC .........................................................46 3.8 PREVENTION AND MITIGATION OF WATER POLLUTION DUE TO FLOODS ..............................................51 3.9 SUMMARIZATION OF TAGET SETTINGS..................................................................................................53 -%!352%3 4/ !#()%6% 4!2'%43 4.1 REGULATION ON LAND USE AND SPATIAL PLANNING...........................................................................56 4.2 REACTIVATION OF FORMER, AND CREATION OF NEW, RETENTION AND DETENTION CAPACITIES ...........58 4.3 TECHNICAL FLOOD DEFENCES ..............................................................................................................60 4.4 PREVENTIVE ACTIONS – OPTIMISING FLOOD FORECASTING AND THE FLOOD WARNING ......................62 4.5 CAPACITY BUILDING OF PROFESSIONALS..............................................................................................63 4.6 RAISING AWARENESS AND PREPAREDNESS OF GENERAL PUBLIC .........................................................65 4.7 PREVENTION AND MITIGATION OF WATER POLLUTION DUE TO FLOODS ..............................................66 1. Introduction 4®• 2•°≥ØÆ ¶Ø≤ ¥®• 3¥µ§π In response to the danger of flooding and in line with its Joint Action Programme, the ICPDR decided in 2000 to establish the long-term Action Programme for Sustainable Flood Prevention in the Danube River Basin. The whole process was accelerated after disastrous floods in 2002 and resulted in adoption of the Action Programme at the ICPDR Ministerial Meeting on 13 December 2004. The overall goal of the ICPDR Action Programme is to achieve a long term and sustain- able approach for managing the risks of floods to protect human life and property, while encouraging conservation and improvement of water related ecosystems. Given the area, the complexity and the internal differences in the Danube River Basin, the Action Pro- gramme represents an overall framework, which needs to be specified in further detail for sub-basins. Therefore, the targets of the ICPDR Action Programme include prepara- tion of flood action plans for all sub-basin in the Danube catchment area. In September 2007 a Directive of the European parliament and of the Council on the assessment and management of flood risks (EFD) was adopted by the European Council. The aim of the Directive is to reduce and manage the risks that floods pose to human health, the environment, cultural heritage and economic activity. The Directive requires Member States to first carry out a preliminary flood risk assessment by 2011 to identify areas at risk of flooding. For such areas they would then need to draw up flood risk maps by 2013 and establish flood risk management plans focused on prevention, protection and preparedness by 2015. As the ICPDR Action Programme was designed in full coherence with EFD the flood ac- tion plans for sub-basins are an important part of implementation of the EFD and they summarize the key actions towards preparation of the flood risk management plans. Therefore, the preparation of the flood action plans for sub-basins can be considered as an interim step in implementation of EFD. This action plan for the Inn sub-basin reviews the current situation in flood protection and sets the targets and the respective measures aiming among others to reduction of damage risks and flood levels, increasing the awareness of flooding and to improvement of flood forecasting. The targets and measures are based on the regulation of land use and spatial planning, increase of retention and detention capacities, technical flood de- fenses, preventive actions, capacity building, awareness & preparedness raising and prevention and mitigation of water pollution due to floods. It is foreseen that this planning document will be further refined as appropriate and necessary by the bilateral river commissions. 4®• !©≠ ض ¥®• “)ÆÆ” 3µ¢*2•∞Ø≤¥ The “Inn” sub-report encompasses the entire Danube sub-basin of the Inn. Thus, all the tributaries of the Inn, primarily the Salzach and Manfall, have also been included in the report. The aim of the present sub-report is an initial assessment of the current flood protection situation in the catchment area of the Inn. Furthermore, the report is intended to pro- vide an overview of flood protection measures planned for the future in the sub-basin, as well as their investment volume and time frame. In addition, measures which have al- ready been implemented and planned for the protection of human beings and the envi- ronment, such as those concerning the issue of public relations, or measures for the re- duction of water pollution resulting from flooding, have also been incorporated in the present report. 2. Characterisation of the Current Situation Sustainable flood protection in Austria and Germany represents an essential foundation for the settlement of many areas, particularly in the Alpine region. The severe floods of 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2005, together with their effects on existing areas of settlement, have shown that technical flood protection alone can only cover a portion of the complex interconnected structure of effects relating to “flood protection”. In this context, climate change should, as far as possible, also be taken into consideration in future, together with its consequences concerning future floods, which cannot as yet be assessed. The following map, published by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, offers an overview of the 17 established Danube sub-basins. Fig. 2-1: Overview of the Danube sub-basins (Source: ICPDR) The Inn, including its tributaries, as an important Danube sub-basin of the Upper Da- nube, drains a large portion of Austria’s western national territory as well as a large por- tion of Bavaria (Germany) into the Danube. As the third-largest (measured by its dis- charge) and seventh-longest tributary of the Danube, the Inn is also of significance im- portance for the Danube’s flood discharge system. The continuance of sustainable flood protection, as well as the constant further develop- ment of the flood protection strategies and preventive measures on the Inn are therefore of significant importance also for the Danube riparian states. Fig. 2-2: The Inn, Salzach and their catchment areas, and also the Danube in Austria The Inn arises at the Maloja Pass in the Swiss Engadin and extends for 517 kilometres to its confluence with the Danube at Passau. It thereby traverses not only Switzerland but also Austria and Germany, covering an altitude difference of 2193 metres. The Up- per Inn Valley forms a basin, in which Landeck is situated at 816 metres above the Adri- atic. The character of the landscape is still very Alpine here. Downstream of Innsbruck (at river kilometre 300), where the Upper Inn Valley gives way to the Lower Inn Valley although the valley floor of the Inn Valley is already some- what wider in this area, the valley is nonetheless still Alpine in character with existing land utilisation pressure exerted by settlement, infrastructure, agriculture and natural area which decisively shapes the Inn Valley. The German-Austrian border runs between the towns of Kufstein and Erl in the middle of the river. The Inn then crosses the south-eastern corner of Bavaria after which it again forms the German-Austrian border, downstream of the Salzach tributary. The Inn enters the Danube at Passau, “the town of three rivers”. The river Inn is about 517 km long. Before flowing together with the Danube at Passau the Inn is the boarder between the Austrian Province of Upper Austria and Bavaria about 70 kilometres. At this point, the confluence of the Salzach into the Inn has already occurred. Here, the Alpine character of the Tyrolean Alpine valleys has given way to the plain. The is a dominant impact on the Inn by hydropower stations in the border region. According to the Hydrographic Yearbook (2004), in Austria the Inn covers an area of 8392 km² up to the confluence of the Salzach. Below the Salzach confluence, it covers a further 1976 km²