Analysis of tools and measures for the flood damage mitigation on buildings, infrastructure and in the countryside.

Cross-border cooperation in flood risk management is important not only because the emergency information sharing is needed to improve preparedness. Other reasons are the need for the flood management experience exchange and the coordination of damage mitigation strategies. Crucial actors in this process are Mayors of (potentially) affected villages, citizens and entrepreneurs influencing run-off conditions in the river basin scale. The project builds on the first steps undertaken within STRIMA and aims to further deepen the cross-border flood risk management, including the prevention of damages on buildings and infrastructure. It also supports the continuity of cross-border flood risk management forums. Important part of the project is the economic and institutional analysis of natural flood retention measures.

What factors influence the preparedness of individuals and organizations to effectively cope with natural disasters?

The environmental hazards have struck societies with considerable intensity and recurrence and their impacts are relative to the resilience of the society concerned. The effective ways to reduce environmental risk are related to social action and learning at different institutional levels and efficient risk reduction must be based on balance between individual and institutional approaches through participation and governance. Nevertheless, current writing frequently reduces the two-way nature of the participation process and it only partly analyses individual action as a formative component of institutional frameworks, which is even more distinct in Central-Eastern European context. In this project, we use the multilevel approach to analyse the determinants and mechanisms of how do individuals and institutions learn to reduce risks. We particularly address questions: What are the factors that determine the individual and organizational decision-making in risk reduction? How does the individual learning co-form the institutional frameworks of risk reduction? How are these mechanisms influenced by political-societal context of Central-Eastern Europe?

The proposal of the process of the justification of the cost disproportionality exemption for the purpose of Water Framework Directive goals fulfillment.

The implementation of the Water Framework Directive (No. 2000/60/EC) brought the commitment to reach “good status” of all water bodies until 2027. In reality, this means the adoption of numerous investment measures in order to decrease the pollution inflow and to improve the morphology of water bodies. However, achieving “good status” is associated with large investments, often beyond the capabilities of polluters. In justified cases, member states may request an extension of the deadline based on disproportionality of the costs of meeting the WFD requirements (Article 4). The Directive doesn’t provide a clear explanation how the cost proportionality should be assessed. Within the project, the Czech methodology certified by the Czech Ministry of Agriculture was developed. Our approach is grounded in cost-benefit analysis and compared with alternative approaches, such as “new Leipzig approach” (see the enclosed case study).

Evaluation of the cost-effectiveness combination of measures in the river basin scale for the euthrophication reduction in the large dam Orlik.

Within large European project REFRESH, the IEEP and IREAS, Institute for Structural Policy teams were responsible for the economic analysis of the euthrophication problem at Orlik water reservoir situated at Southern Bohemia. The analysis contains the cost-effectiveness evaluation of proposed measures for the phosphorus inflow reduction. Further, benefits derived from the water improvement were assessed based on the benefit transfer method. Proposed measures and results of the evaluation were consulted with key local stakeholders and distributional impacts on different economic sectors (main cost bearers and benefit receivers) were described as well.

Design and evaluation of the economic instruments for the effective water allocation in the Czech Republic (under the condition of inreasing scarcity of water)

“Hydrological research (monitoring water quality and quantity, extreme phenomena – floods and drought) constitutes the basis for climate change impact research. However, it is not able to provide specific answers regarding future water scarcity. The existing water management needs to reflect this uncertainty and adjust administrative and market-based instruments in order to better address actual water scarcity. Therefore, the project aims at:
1. Evaluating the available information resources on links between climate change and water in a European (Czech) context and methods of processing them.
2. An analysis of water resources accessibility and its impact on market segments, a model of climate change influence on the effectiveness of direct and indirect instruments in water management.

How could socioeconomic indicators influence the decision-making about the appropriateness of the regulation limiting the development of municipalities because of possible future dam construction?

The regulation limiting the development of municipalities is applied at places that are about to be flooded in future because of possible dam construction. The question is how many of such places should be regulated and how to communicate the regulation with affected inhabitants in (usually small) municipalities.
The goal of the study developed for the Czech Ministry of Agriculture was to create the comprehensive database of socioeconomic indicators for affected municipalities, to verify into what extent the existing regulation truly affects the municipal development and to propose the methodology how to proceed with the evaluation of particular places (in order to reduce their list in future).

Into what extent the ecological quality and aesthetical beauty of rivers affects the tourism potential?

High quality of natural resources (together with their aesthetical beauty) affects the potential of the nature-based tourism in the region. This linkage, however, is difficult to capture by numbers. The goal of the Czech-German cross border project is to evaluate the aesthetical beauty of rivers (with the use of the case study of a lido development in Pirna and Decin) and to support the development effort of municipalities.

Research on initiatives, measures and problems faced by Mayors of small municipalities being regularly affected by flash floods.

In the Czech Republic numerous projects have been dealing with disastrous flooding occurred in 1997, 2002 or 2006. The problem of flash floods that annually hits more than 60 places is under investigated. The goal of the research project is to investigate and compare strategies of small Czech villages to cope with flash floods and to promote the information sharing in this matter.

Economic analysis of flood damages and public flood expenditures on disastrous floods in 1997 and 2002. 

Research project focused on the development of the economic classification of flood damages and the detailed analysis of public expenditures on two disastrous floods. For the analysis, the data from the national accounting was used.