1. The River Tagliamento Sustainable flood defence combined to floodplain preservation Nicoletta Toniutti, WWF Italy 23/1/2004, Delft Foto Toni Vorauer - WWF Austria

2. Alps: Near-natural river sections (Cipra 1992) Fiume Tagliamento

3. River length…… 178 km Catchment area…2871 km 2 Mountainous catchment area 2480 km 2 Ave. Elevation 987 m a.s.l. Source Water Authority Venice

4. *Riparian corridor area 150 km² *Active corridor area 61.7 km² *Gravel area 38.7 km² *Island area 10.6 km² *Water area 12.4 km² *Number of gravel bars 950 *Number of Islands about 700 *Shoreline length 940 km Photo Toni Vorauer - WWF Austria; Data:Dr. Klement Tockner - EAWAG

5. Foto Toni Vorauer - WWF Austria

6. M.Spaliviero, Historic Fluvial development of the Alpine-foreland Tagliamento River, Italy and consequences for floodplain management, Geomorphology 1277 ( 2002) 1-17

7. Natura 2000 Greto del Tagliamento photo A.Mohl - WWF Austria

8. WWF International Petition ERN European Rivers Network

9. Foto Toni Vorauer - WWF Austria >Severe reduction of riverbed >consequences on the erosion sedimentation regime >significant reduction of the recharge of the alluvial groundwater aquifer

10. Three inter-linked retention basins + weir 6,46 - 10,35 m high, concrete embankments capacity of 30 million m³ to reduce the peak discharge from 4600 to 4000 m³ at Latisana Photo dr.K.Tockner - EAWAG

11. 0.74 1.02 1.23 1.50 1.65 2.35 Stage Tagliamento: Inundation dynamics From Dr. K. Tockner - EAWAG (CH) (van der Nat et al. 2002)

12. Threats

14. Foto Nicoletta Toniutti - WWF Italia

15. Current Plan WWF Proposal Municipalities 5 9 Natura 2000 YESNO Dykes(high) 6,46 - 10,35 1,5 - 5 Diaphragms YESNO Groundwater YESNO river continuum interrupted not interrupted Foto Toni Vorauer - WWF Austria

16. *Water Retention basins located closer to the area of highest flood risk *Conservation of natural and/or semi-natural floodplains where still existing and maintenance of flow variability *Setting up an effective forecasting and alert system *Mix of measures, in particular the non structural ones *Restoration projects at some critical points/reaches *Public participation process involving all the main stakeholders, including the general public *Constitute a multidisciplinary team involving the scientific community, experts and NGOs WWF Proposal Foto Toni Vorauer - WWF Austria

17. Hot Issues *Accordance with WFD --> protection for remaining wetlands ecosystems. *Coherence at EU policy level *Integrated planning management of land and water resources *Extensive agriculture management as part of flood risk reduction strategy *Open information exchange between governments, experts (university), business enterprises, interest groups and NGOs Foto Nicoletta Toniutti - WWF Italia

18. “Consideration of how wetlands can be used to manage flood and droughts in a manner compatible with WFD objectives could greatly assist Member States with implementation and in integrating flood management strategies with River Basin Plans. It is highly likely that a mixed range of flood management options will be part of sustainable flood management in the future” Horizontal Guidance on the Role of Wetlands in the Water Framework Directive Foto Nicoletta Toniutti - WWF Italia