On-going research in support of science-policy interfacing - WG-F Floods Paul Samuels HR Wallingford, UK

Common Implementation Strategy 2010-2012 Water Directors Steering of implementation process Chair: Presidency, Co-chair: Commission CIS-SPI Strategic Co-ordination Group Co-ordination of work programme Chair: Commission Art. 21 Committee WG A “Ecological Status” Chair: JRC, DE, UK WG D “Reporting” Chair: EC, EEA, FR WG F “Floods” Chair: EC, IE Climate Change & WFD Chair: DE, EC WFD and Agriculture Chair: FR, UK WG C “Groundwater” Chair: EC, AT WG E “Chemical Aspects” Chair: EC, JRC, IT, FR, SE Water scarcity and drought Chair: IT, FR, ES Established working groups Temporary working groups Stakeholders, NGO’s, Researchers, Experts, etc.

SPI actions of WG-F Started during the development of the Directive as initiative between DG Research and DG Environment Briefings from JRC, FLOODsite, other FP and CRUE ERA-NET projects WG-F Thematic Workshops Implementation of the Directive Dialogue with research community

Human impacts Largest risk to life in an event Storm surge Most frequent cause of fatalities Flash Floods – especially in vehicles Largest scale of evacuation Major river basin floods Greatest economic damage Major city

Implementation

Preliminary FRA HYDRATE CORFU CONHAZ Theseus Data collection and post-event analysis CORFU Flood hazard and risk in urban areas CONHAZ Multifaceted understanding of damages Theseus Putting coastal risks into context

Preliminary FRA CapHazNet KULTURISK, CORFU Aspects of resilience Science on Flood Risk Assessment also informs work in mapping and plan preparation WG-F: issue for debate What is “significant” flood risk?

Hazard and risk maps IMPRINTS HYDRATE CORFU KULTURISK Debris flow hazard in flash floods HYDRATE Flash flood database CORFU Enhanced urban flood mapping methods KULTURISK Mapping methods

Management Plans Prevention Protection Preparedness FloodProbe Protection FloodProbe, KULTURISK Preparedness CapHazNet, ERA-NET CRUE, KULTURISK Forecasting and warning IMPRINTS, HYDRATE, UrbanFlood

Management Plans Sustainable land use, water retention measures, controlled flooding ERA-NET CRUE Stakeholder consultation Theseus, CapHazNet, FloodProbe Transboundary influence of measures FLOOD-WISE (Interreg IV) pilots WG-F request Guidance on accounting for uncertainty for decision making

Policy links through advisory committees Partnering FP7 projects: Urbanflood FloodProBE SMARTeST IMPRINTS CORFU ……. AWARE’s focus is on human-caused deterioration of coastal water ecosystems. The project engages scientists, policy makers and the public in jointly creating and analysing scenarios for improved water management in coastal areas. AWARE’s participatory approach is crucial: it develops further the concept of integrated adaptive ecosystem management, by creating active roles for public participation. This strengthens the consultations between local residents, research and policy communities and facilitates common strategies. The project implements this approach in three case studies : the coastal waters of the Gulf of Riga (Estonia and Latvia), the Seine, Somme, and Schelder river basins and the Southern North Sea coastal zone (France and Belgium), and the Po river Delta and Goro lagoon (Italy). 22