Facing Hydrometeorological Extreme Events -  - E-Book

Facing Hydrometeorological Extreme Events E-Book

0,0
123,99 €

-100%
Sammeln Sie Punkte in unserem Gutscheinprogramm und kaufen Sie E-Books und Hörbücher mit bis zu 100% Rabatt.

Mehr erfahren.
Beschreibung

Provides an understanding of the relationship between social-ecological systems and multilevel governance so that readers can properly deal with hydrometeorological extreme events and hazards Based on field investigations from EU research projects, this book is the first to devote itself to scientific and policy-related knowledge concerning climate change-induced extreme events. It depicts national and international strategies, as well as tools used to improve multilevel governance for the management of hydrometeorological risks. It also demonstrates how these strategies play out over different scales of the decision-making processes. Facing Hydrometeorological Extreme Events: A Governance Issue offers comprehensive coverage of such events as floods, droughts, coastal storms, and wind storms. It showcases real-life success stories of multilevel governance and highlights the individuals involved and the resources mobilized in the decision-making processes. The book starts by presenting a synthesis of hydrometeorological extreme events and their impacts on society. It then demonstrates how societies are organizing themselves to face these extreme events, focusing on the strategies of integration of risk management in governance and public policy. In addition, it includes the results of several EU-funded projects such as CLIMB, STARFLOOD, and INTERREG IVB project DROP. * The first book dedicated to hydrometeorological extreme events governance based on field investigations from EU research projects * Offers a "multi-hazards" approach--mixing policy, governance, and field investigations' main outputs * Features the results of EU-funded projects addressing hydrometeorological extreme events * Part of the Hydrometeorological Extreme Events series Facing Hydrometeorological Extreme Events is an ideal book for upper-graduate students, postgraduates, researchers, scientists, and policy-makers working in the field.

Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:

Android
iOS
von Legimi
zertifizierten E-Readern

Seitenzahl: 1095

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Bewertungen
0,0
0
0
0
0
0
Mehr Informationen
Mehr Informationen
Legimi prüft nicht, ob Rezensionen von Nutzern stammen, die den betreffenden Titel tatsächlich gekauft oder gelesen/gehört haben. Wir entfernen aber gefälschte Rezensionen.



Table of Contents

Cover

List of Contributors

Editors

The Series Editor

Series Preface

Part I: Introduction

1 Governance Challenges Facing Hydrometeorological Extreme Events

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Facing hydrometeorological extreme events

1.3 Floods

1.4 Drought

1.5 Coastal storms

1.6 Governance issues related to hydrometeorological extreme events

References

2 Overview of the Content of the Book

2.1 Floods

2.2 Droughts

2.3 Coastal storms

Part II: Floods

II.1: Actors Involved in Flood Risk Management

3 European Actors Facing Floods Risks

3.1 European actors in the field of civil security: A competence which develops within a strict framework of cooperation between the Member States

3.2 European actors in the field of the environment: Powers that are paradoxically limited

3.3 European actors in the field of agriculture: Could there be specific powers to deal with floods?

3.4 Conclusion

References

4 Multi‐actor, Multilevel Assessment of Social Capacity for Community Engagement in Flood Risk Preparedness: Results of Implementation in Five European Cases

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Social capacity building framework for community engagement

4.3 The capacity assessment tool

4.4 Indicators and case findings

4.5 Conclusions

References

II.2: Strategies, Instruments, and Resources Used to Face Floods

5 Flood Risks Perceptions and Goals/Ambitions

5.1 Introduction

5.2 The problem stream: Perceptions on increased flood risks

5.3 The policy stream: Perceptions on the solutions needed to deal with increased flood risks

5.4 The political stream: Willingness to take action

5.5 International policies

5.6 European directives and policy documents

5.7 Experiences with flood risk management in other countries

5.8 Research on impacts and adaptation

5.9 Economic costs (of inaction)

5.10 Facilitating factors

5.11 Factors contributing to agenda‐setting

5.12 Conclusions

References

6 Instruments for Strategies to Face Floods through Prevention, Mitigation, and Preparation in Europe: The Age of Alignment

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Conceptual framework

6.3 Comparison. Similarities and differences in flood instruments' implementation in Europe

6.4 Discussion. Political effects, power relations, and governance choices in flood management: What do flood instruments teach?

6.5 Conclusion

References

II.3: Lessons from Cases of Flood Governance

7 A House of Cards: The Challenge of Establishing Societal Resilience to Flooding Through Multi‐Layered Governance in England

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Deciphering multi‐layered governance

7.3 Methodology

7.4 Flood‐risk governance and implications for societal resilience

7.5 Reflections on the ‘house of cards’ of flood risk governance

References

8 Understanding Dutch Flood‐Risk Management: Principles and Pitfalls

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Historical background

8.3 The concept of public interest

8.4 Solidarity and subsidiarity

8.5 Resilience

8.6 Challenges and pitfalls

8.7 Conclusion and recommendations

References

9 Flood Governance in France: From Hegemony to Diversity in the French Flood‐Risk Management Actors' Network

9.1 Flood‐risk management governance: A stakeholders' network still dominated by central government and municipalities

9.2 Inter‐municipalities as new players within the French FRM governance

9.3 Where are citizens in FRM?

9.4 Conclusion

References

10 Flood‐Risk Governance in Belgium: Towards a Resilient, Efficient, and Legitimate Arrangement?

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Evaluation framework

10.3 Methods

10.4 Flood risk governance in Belgium

10.5 Comparing intra‐state developments

10.6 Evaluating resilience, efficiency, and legitimacy

10.7 Conclusion

References

Part III: Droughts

III.1: Actors Involved in Drought Risk Management

11 European Actors and Institutions Involved in Water Scarcity and Drought Policy

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Actors in the European Union related to WS&D policy

11.3 Roles and powers of European actors and institutions involved in WS&D policy

11.4 Mapping European actors and institutions involved in WS&D policy

11.5 Discussion

11.6 Conclusion

References

12 National and Local Actors of Drought Governance in Europe: A Comparative Review of Six Cases from North‐West Europe

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Methodology

12.3 Assessment of the national and local actors of drought governance

12.4 Conclusions and recommendations

References

III.2: Strategies, Instruments, and Resources Used to Face Droughts

13 Awareness of Drought Impacts in Europe: The Cause or the Consequence of the Level of Goal Ambitions?

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Drought governance analysis based on two methodological approaches

13.3 Case studies in NWE

13.4 Case studies in the Mediterranean region

13.5 Drought perceptions and goal ambitions in NWE

13.6 Drought perceptions and goal ambitions in the Mediterranean region

13.7 Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

14 Strategies and Instruments to Face Drought and Water Scarcity

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Reactive measures

14.3 Preventive measures

14.4 Adaptive measures

14.5 Supportive measures

14.6 Discussion and overview

References

III.3: Lessons from Cases of Droughts Governance

15 Multilevel Governance for Drought Management in Flanders: Using a Centralized and Data Driven Approach

15.1 Introduction

15.2 Water management in Flanders

15.3 Past and future drought events

15.4 Governance dimensions for Flemish drought management

15.5 Summary and recommendations

References

16 Drought Governance in the Eifel‐Rur Region: The Interplay of Fixed Frameworks and Strong Working Relationships

16.1 Introduction

16.2 The water resources system in the Eifel‐Rur region

16.3 Beyond the water board: The role of other governance levels in Eifel‐Rur's water management

16.4 The drought perspective on Eifel‐Rur's water governance

16.5 Conclusions: Factors for current and future success

References

17 Adaptation of Water Management to Face Drought and Water Scarcity: Lessons Learned from Two Italian Case Studies

17.1 Introduction

17.2 Water management in Italy and the autonomous regime

17.3 The Rio Mannu catchment

17.4 The Noce catchment

17.5 Comparative analysis and discussion

17.6 Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

18 Power Asymmetries, Migrant Agricultural Labour, and Adaptation Governance in Turkey: A Political Ecology of Double Exposures

18.1 Introduction

18.2 Double Exposures and political ecology of vulnerability

18.3 Case study and methods

18.4 A political ecology of Double Exposure in Kapı village

18.5 Discussion

18.6 Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

19 Drought Governance in Catalonia: Lessons Learnt?

19.1 Introduction

19.2 Drought management in Spain

19.3 Drought management in Catalonia

19.4 Drought crisis in Catalonia 2007–2008

19.5 Drought planning in Catalonia after the crisis

19.6 Deliberative public participation in drought management: Need, obligation, and opportunity

19.7 Conclusions

References

20 What Could Change Drought Governance in Europe?: A Comparative Analysis between Two Case Studies in France and the UK

20.1 Introduction

20.2 Vilaine catchment and Arzal dam

20.3 Somerset Levels and moors

20.4 Methodology

20.5 Results and discussion

20.6 Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

Part IV: Coastal and Wind Storms

IV.1: Actors Involved in Coastal Risks Prevention and Management

21 Sustainable Communities and Multilevel Governance in the Age of Coastal Storms

21.1 Introduction: Addressing a social‐ecological system

21.2 Harmonizing coastal management, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation goals through meaningful public participation

21.3 As a response, are national climate change strategies efficient enough?

21.4 Key principles and responses for building sustainable, hazard‐resilient communities

21.5 Conclusion: ‘Hazard‐resilient’ communities vs. ‘waves of adversity’

References

IV.2: Strategies, Instruments, and Resources Used to Face Coastal Risks Prevention

22 European Challenges to Coastal Management from Storm Surges: Problem‐Structuring Framework and Actors Implicated in Responses

22.1 Storm surge threats in European coasts

22.2 European governance

22.3 Discussion and conclusions

22.4 Conclusions

References

23 Perceptions of Extreme Coastal Events: The Case of the French Atlantic and Mediterranean Coasts

23.1 Contemporary society is increasingly unaware of risks related to the sea

23.2 Multiple factors behind the gradual dwindling of the ‘culture of coastal risks’

23.3 What recommendations for public policy emerge from this research into the perceptions and representations of risks?

23.4 Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

IV.3: Lessons from Cases of Coastal Risks Governance

24 After Xynthia on the Atlantic Coast of France: Preventive Adaptation Methods

24.1 Introduction

24.2 A normal storm in terms of natural hazard but a major coastal flood due​ to the concomitance of the meteorological and marine agents

24.3 A tragic human and expensive material toll due to the addition of natural factors and management issues

24.4 Post‐Xynthia policy: A new strategy for coastal management in France

24.5 Life‐saving maps: New geographical tools for a better coastal management

24.6 Discussion about these different methods

24.7 Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

25 Coastal Flooding and Storm Surges: How to Improve the Operational Response of the Risk Management Authorities: An Example of the CRISSIS Research Program on the French Coast of Languedoc

25.1 Introduction

25.2 The coastal flood hazard and its likely evolution

25.3 Vulnerability of the stakes

25.4 Social representations and perceptions of the coastal flooding risk

25.5 Crisis management

25.6 Conclusion

References

26 Lessons Learnt from Coastal Risks Governance on Reunion Island, Indian Ocean, France

26.1 Introduction

26.2 Context of the study

26.3 Impacts of TC Bejisa and post‐cyclone stakeholders' responses

26.4 Key findings and challenges for adaptation to climate change

26.5 Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

27 Lessons from Cases of Coastal Risks Governance in the United Kingdom

27.1 Introduction: Windstorms and their impacts in the UK

27.2 Events that have shaped governance of natural disasters in the UK

27.3 New developments in the warning environment

27.4 How the warning systems work now

27.5 Current and future issues

References

Part V: Conclusions, Perspectives

28 Hydrometeorological Extreme Events’ Effects on Populations: A Cognitive Insight on Post‐Traumatic Growth, Resilience Processes and Mental Well‐Being

28.1 Introduction

28.2 Resilient ecological systems for a psychological concept

28.3 Psychosocial factors and post‐traumatic growth

28.4 Building resilience to mitigate social vulnerability

28.5 Post‐traumatic growth: Training for preventive psychological strategies

28.6 Modern initiatives to coordinate a global governance

28.7 The EU coordination to build up integrated resilient governance to decrease impacts on health and wellbeing due to hydrometeorological extreme events

28.8 Elements of conclusion

References

29 Overview of Multilevel Governance Strategies for Hydrometeorological Extreme Events

29.1 Governance specificities depending on hydrometeorological extreme events

29.2 Actor systems facing hydrometeorological extreme events

29.3 Perception and strategies

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 4

Table 4.1 Use Likert scale below to quantify indicators. When implemented, th...

Chapter 6

Table 6.1 Flood risk management strategies: definitions from Hegger et al. (2...

Table 6.2 Typology of policy instruments.

Table 6.3 Prevention strategy instruments.

Table 6.4 Mitigation strategy instruments.

Table 6.5 Preparation strategy instruments.

Table 6.6 Defence strategy instruments.

Table 6.7 Recovery strategy instruments.

Table 6.8 Classification of instruments per strategy.

Table 6.9 Instrumentation pattern in England.

Table 6.10 Instrumentation pattern in the Netherlands.

Table 6.11 Instrumentation pattern in France.

Chapter 7

Table 7.1 Benchmarks for determining the extent to which flood risk governanc...

Chapter 10

Table 10.1 Watercourse managers for different watercourse categories.

Chapter 11

Table 11.1 Non‐comprehensive overview of European Union Institutions and rela...

Table 11.2 Roles and powers of European actors and institutions involved inwa...

Chapter 12

Table 12.1 Overview of the six cases included in the review.

Table 12.2 Assessment of the ‘actors and networks’ dimension in the six cases...

Table 12.3 Recommendations regarding the national and local actors.

Chapter 13

Table 13.1 Matrix form of the governance assessment tool.

Table 13.2 Main characteristics of the five case studies.

Chapter 14

Table 14.1 Drought management instruments overview.

Chapter 19

Table 19.1 Level of government and position as regards the Ebro transfer.

Chapter 21

Table 21.1 Comparative analysis of five national climate change strategies.

Table 21.2 Comparative analysis of two national climate change strategies wit...

Table 21.3 Definition of coastal partnerships.

Table 21.4 Some examples of recovery focus areas.

Chapter 22

Table 22.1 Significant European storm surges over the last century and manage...

Table 22.2 Actors at the national, regional, and global levels for coastal ri...

Table 22.3 The 10‐tenets framework with examples of management responses rela...

Chapter 23

Table 23.1 Resident and visiting populations relatively unaware of risks related...

Table 23.2 Distribution of the surveys in Leucate according to living area and r...

Chapter 25

Table 25.1 Criteria and indicators of human and material vulnerabilities.

Chapter 26

Table 26.1 Impacts of TC Bejisa on beach‐dune systems along the Saint‐Paul co...

Table 26.2 Destructive impacts of TC Bejisa on human assets (Duvat et al. 201...

Table 26.3 Impacts of TC Bejisa on coastal protection structures and post‐cyc...

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

Figure 1.1 Percentage distribution for relevant weather‐related losses in Eu...

Figure 1.2 Percentage distribution for relevant weather‐related loss events ...

Figure 1.3 Percentage distribution for relevant weather‐related loss events ...

Figure 1.4 Framework for risk governance adapted from the International Risk...

Chapter 5

Figure 5.1 Key drivers and key facilitating factors for political commitment...

Chapter 10

Figure 10.1 Belgium and its regions.

Chapter 11

Figure 11.1 Institutional mapping of water scarcity and drought (WS&D) manag...

Chapter 12

Figure 12.1 Location of the six case studies in North West Europe.

Chapter 13

Figure 13.1 Location of the case studies in Northwestern Europe.

Figure 13.2 Location of the case studies in the Mediterranean region.

Chapter 15

Figure 15.1 Overview of the four river basins in Flanders and location of th...

Chapter 16

Figure 16.1

Wasserverband Eifel‐Rur

(Eifel‐Rur Water board, WVER) reg...

Chapter 17

Figure 17.1 The Rio Mannu catchment (Rio di San Sperate) in Sardinia.

Figure 17.2 The Flumendosa‐Campidano‐Cixerri system. ).

Figure 17.3 Rio Noce catchment, watercourse, and reservoirs.

Chapter 18

Figure 18.1 Map of Seyhan river basin.

Chapter 19

Figure 19.1 Hydrological areas in Catalonia, Ter‐Llobregat‐Besòs system, and...

Figure 19.2 Chronological milestones of drought crisis in Catalonia 2007–200...

Figure 19.3 Measures contemplated in the Special Drought Plan (SDP) of the i...

Chapter 20

Figure 20.1 Location of the Vilaine catchment, the Arzal dam, and the zone o...

Figure 20.2 Location of the Somerset Levels and Moors and hydrological catch...

Figure 20.3 Process model with the actor characteristics used in contextual ...

Figure 20.4 Contextual interaction theory in the Vilaine catchment during in...

Figure 20.5 Contextual interaction theory in the Vilaine catchment with clim...

Figure 20.6 Contextual interaction theory in Somerset before 2014 floods.

Figure 20.7 Contextual interaction theory in Somerset after 2014 floods.

Chapter 21

Figure 21.1 Hybrid governance arrangements.

Figure 21.2 The four orders of coastal governance outcomes.

Chapter 22

Figure 22.1 DPSIR framework.

Figure 22.2 DAPSI(W)R(M) framework Elliott et al. (2017).

Chapter 23

Figure 23.1 Location of scientific studies conducted in mainland France into t...

Figure 23.2 The town of Leucate and its resort areas on the Languedoc coast in...

Figure 23.3 Perceptions of the sea and the risk of coastal flooding in Leucate...

Figure 23.4 Monument commemorating the February 1953 storm in Zeeland, clearly...

Figure 23.5 Trees pained blue in La Rochelle to demonstrate the water level re...

Figure 23.6 During a storm in the 2010s, the seafront houses in the Eden resid...

Figure 23.7 Comparison between perception of the flood risk at Leucate‐Plage a...

Chapter 24

Figure 24.1 Impact of Storm Xynthia on the French Atlantic coast, between th...

Figure 24.2 Criteria to define the ‘black zone’ where houses were destroyed ...

Figure 24.3 RPP coastal flooding adoptions from 1995 to 2012.

Figure 24.4 Number of buildings in Noirmoutier Island for the four municipal...

Figure 24.5 Number of buildings in the municipality of L'Epine on Noirmoutie...

Figure 24.6 Map of vulnerable buildings in the municipality of L'Epine on No...

Figure 24.7 The VIE index methodology (Creach et al. 2015b).

Figure 24.8 VIE index results for Noirmoutier Island with a Xynthia scenario...

Figure 24.9 Mapping of the VIE index on L'Epine using the Xynthia event leve...

Chapter 25

Figure 25.1 Location of study area.

Figure 25.2 Chained modelling method with downscaling approach.

Figure 25.3 Flooded area in Leucate Plage associated to the crisis exercise ...

Figure 25.4 Feedback methodology.

Figure 25.5 Conventional crisis unit organizational framework. Situation uni...

Chapter 26

Figure 26.1 Location map and sketch map showing the main coastal morphologic...

Figure 26.2 Detailed map of the study area. This figure shows (i) the limits...

Figure 26.3 Tropical cyclone tracks near Reunion Island (1948–2014)

Figure 26.4 Morphological impacts of TC Bejisa in the northern part of Saint...

Figure 26.5 Morphological impacts of TC Bejisa in the central part of Boucan...

Figure 26.6 Flooding of the Saint‐Gilles marina during TC Bejisa.

Figure 26.7 Timelines of the responses by public authorities and coastal res...

Figure 26.8 Strategies deployed by the coastal residents of Saint‐Paul munic...

Chapter 27

Figure 27.1 The surface pressure pattern at the time of the 1953 storm surge...

Figure 27.2 Surface pressure pattern at the time of the peak damage over sou...

Figure 27.3 Highest wind gust speeds recorded across England on the night of...

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Pages

ii

iii

iv

xvii

xviii

xix

xx

xxi

xxiii

xxiv

xxv

1

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

27

29

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

99

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

151

152

153

154

155

157

159

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171

172

173

174

175

176

177

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

185

186

187

188

189

191

192

193

194

195

196

197

198

199

200

201

202

203

204

205

206

207

208

209

210

211

212

213

214

215

216

217

218

219

221

222

223

224

225

226

227

228

229

230

231

232

233

234

235

236

237

238

239

240

241

242

243

244

245

246

247

248

249

250

251

252

253

254

255

256

257

258

259

261

262

263

264

265

266

267

268

269

270

271

272

273

274

275

276

277

278

279

280

281

283

284

285

286

287

288

289

290

291

292

293

294

295

296

297

298

299

300

301

302

303

304

305

306

307

308

309

310

311

313

315

317

318

319

320

321

322

323

324

325

326

327

328

329

330

331

332

333

334

335

336

337

338

339

341

342

343

344

345

346

347

348

349

350

351

352

353

354

355

356

357

358

359

360

361

391

393

394

395

396

397

398

399

400

401

402

403

404

405

406

407

408

409

410

411

412

413

414

415

416

417

418

419

420

421

422

423

424

425

426

427

428

429

430

431

433

434

435

436

437

438

439

440

441

442

443

444

445

446

447

448

449

450

451

452

453

454

455

456

457

458

459

461

462

463

464

465

466

467

468

469

470

471

472

473

474

475

476

477

478

479

480

481

483

485

486

487

488

489

490

491

492

493

494

495

496

497

499

500

501

502

503

504

505

506

507

508

509

Other Hydrometeorological Extreme Events Titles

Hydrometeorological Hazards: Interfacing Science and PolicyEdited by Philippe Quevauviller

Coastal Storms: Processes and ImpactsEdited by Paolo Ciavola and Giovanni Coco

Drought: Science and PolicyEdited by Ana Iglesias, Dionysis Assimacopoulos, and Henny A.J. Van Lanen

Forthcoming Titles:

Flash Floods Early Warning Systems: Policy and PracticeEdited by Daniel Sempere‐Torres

Facing Hydrometeorological Extreme Events

A Governance Issue

 

Edited by

Isabelle La Jeunesse

University of ToursDepartment of GeographyLaboratory CNRS 7324 CiteresMaison des Sciences de l'Homme33, allée Ferdinand de LessepsB. P. 6044937204 Tours cedex 3France

Corinne Larrue

Université Paris‐Est CréteilEcole d’Urbanisme de Paris Lab’urbaBâtiment Bienvenüe – A32214‐20 boulevard NewtonCité Descartes – Champs‐sur‐Marne77454 Marne‐la‐Vallée Cedex 2France

 

 

This edition first published 2020© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

The right of Isabelle La Jeunesse and Corinne Larrue to be identified as the authors of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with law.

Registered Office(s)John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USAJohn Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

Editorial OfficeThe Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products visit us at www.wiley.com.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print‐on‐demand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of WarrantyWhile the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials or promotional statements for this work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization, website, or product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Names: La Jeunesse, Isabelle, editor. | Larrue, Corinne, editor.Title: Facing hydrometeorological extreme events : a governance issue / [edited by] Isabelle La Jeunesse, Corinne Larrue.Description: First edition. | Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2019. | Series: Hydrometeorological hazards : interfacing science and policy | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2019017936 (print) | LCCN 2019980282 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119383543 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781119383468 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119383550 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Hydrometeorology–Government policy. | Hydrological forecasting. | Flood control. | Drought management.Classification: LCC GB2803.2 .F34 2019 (print) | LCC GB2803.2 (ebook) | DDC 363.34/92–dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019017936LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019980282

Cover Design: WileyCover Image: © Quintanilla/Shutterstock

List of Contributors

Meghan AlexanderSchool of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom

Brice AnselmeInstitut de Géographie, Laboratory CNRS 8586 PRODIG, Université Paris 1 Panthéon‐Sorbonne, Paris, France

Alba BallesterAutonomous University of Barcelona‐Institute of Government and Public Policies, Barcelona, Spain

Suzanne BoyesInstitute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, United Kingdom

Hans BressersDepartment of Governance and Technology for Sustainability, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

Nanny BressersFormer Project Leader of the European DROP Project at the Water Authority of Vechtstromen, now a Consultant at Vindsubsidies. Uthrecht, the Netherlands

Alison BrowneDepartment of Geography, Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

Elie Chevillot‐MiotLaboratory CNRS 6554 LETG‐Nantes, University of Nantes, Nantes, France

Claudia CirelliLaboratory CNRS 7324 Citeres, University of Tours, Tours, France

Ann CrabbéUniversity of Antwerp, Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change, Antwerp, Belgium

Axel CreachLaboratory CNRS 8185 ENeC, Paris Sorbonne University, Paris, France

Paul DurandLaboratory of physical geography CNRS 8591 LGP, Université Paris 1 Panthéon‐Sorbonne, Paris, France

Virginie K.E. DuvatLaboratory CNRS 7266 LIENSs, La Rochelle University, La Rochelle, France

Michael ElliottInstitute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, United Kingdom

Marie FournierLaboratoire Géomatique et Foncier (GeF) – Équipe ERADIF (Aménagement, Droit immobilier, Foncier), École Supérieure des Géomètres et Topographes (CNAM), Le Mans, France

Mauro GalluccioExternal Speaker to the European Commission, DG COMM, Brussels, BelgiumEANAM – European Association for Negotiation and Mediation, Brussels, Belgium

Lydie Goeldner‐GianellaLaboratory of physical geography CNRS 8591 LGP, Université Paris 1 Panthéon‐Sorbonne, Paris, France

Brian GoldingMet Office, Exeter, United Kingdom

Mathilde GralepoisLaboratory CNRS 7324 Citeres, University of Tours, Tours, France

Yves HenocqueMaritime Policy and Governance, French Research Institute for the Development of the Sea, IFREMER, Paris, France

Giorgos KallisInstitut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain

Stefan KuksDepartment of governance and technology for sustainability, CSTM, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands and Vechstromen Water Authority, The Netherlands

Abel La CalleAutonomous University of Barcelona, Institute of Government and Public Policy, Barcelona, Spain

Isabelle La JeunesseLaboratory CNRS 7324 Citeres, University of Tours, Tours, France

Ruta LandgrebeEcologic Institute, Berlin, Germany

Corinne LarrueLab’Urba, Ecole d'Urbanisme de Paris, Université Paris Est Créteil, Marne‐La‐Vallée, France

Esmeralda LongépéeLaboratory 228 Espace‐DEV, University of Mayotte, Mayotte, France

Alexandre K. MagnanInstitute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, Sciences Po, Paris, France

Hannelore MeesDepartment of sociology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

Denis MercierLaboratory CNRS 8185 ENeC, Paris Sorbonne University, Paris, France

Virginia MurrayPublic Health England, London, United Kingdom

Alexandre Nicolae‐LermaBRGM Nouvelle‐Aquitaine, French Geological Survey, Pessac, France

Lila Oriard ColinLab’Urba, Institut d’Urbanisme de Paris, Université Paris Est Créteil, Marne‐La‐Vallée, France

Gül ÖzerolDepartment of Governance and Technology for Sustainability, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

Sophie PardoEconomics and management laboratory LEMNA, University of Nantes, Nantes, France

Sally PriestFlood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University, London, United Kingdom

Thomas SchellenbergerEuropean Center for Research on the Law of Collective Accidents and Disasters (CERDACC), IUT de Colmar, Université de Haut‐Alsace, Colmar, France

Ulf SteinEcologic Institute, Berlin, Germany

Jenny TröltzschEcologic Institute, Berlin, Germany

Ethemcan TurhanLaboratory of Environmental Humanities, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

Rodrigo VidaurreEcologic Institute, Berlin, Germany

Thomas WaitePublic Health England, London, United Kingdom

Mark WieringRadboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Christos ZografosEnvironmental science and technology Institute ICTA, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Editors

Isabelle La Jeunesse is Lecturer Habilitated to direct research in Environmental Geography at the University of Tours and in the laboratory CNRS Citeres. She defended a thesis carried out at Ifremer on the anthropization of the phosphorus geochemical cycle and its implications for the eutrophication management of the Thau coastal lagoon. Since then, she has focused her research on the impact of human activities on water and the needs of integrated management of this resource at the catchment scale. Her participation in European research programmes has fuelled the necessarily interdisciplinary vision of water management from environmental sciences to social sciences in the context of existing pressures, including climate change and hydrometeorological extreme events.

Corinne Larrue (1957) is Professor of urban and environmental planning at the University of Paris Est Créteil since 2013, and previously was Professor at University of Tours for 20 years. Within the University she has been (2014–2018) co‐director of the Paris School of Planning, one of the most important institutes for urban planning in France and is currently member of the Lab’urba research center.

Her major field of research, teaching, and expertise is policy analysis with emphasis on environmental and regional policies. She has coordinated and participated in several comparative research projects within the European Union Framework Programmes, dealing with implementation of environmental policy issues. She has published numerous academic papers and books devoted to environmental policy analysis and on public policy management.

The Series Editor

Philippe Quevauviller began his research activities in 1983 at the University of Bordeaux I, France, studying lake geochemistry. Between 1984 and 1987 he was Associate Researcher at the Portuguese Environment State Secretary where he performed a multidisciplinary study (sedimentology, geomorphology, and geochemistry) of the coastal environment of the Galé coastline and of the Sado Estuary, which was the topic of his PhD degree in Oceanography gained in 1987 (at the University of Bordeaux I).

In 1988, he became Associate Researcher in the framework of a contract between the University of Bordeaux I and the Dutch Ministry for Public Works (Rijskwaterstaat), in which he investigated organotin contamination levels of Dutch coastal environments and waterways. From this research work, he gained another PhD in chemistry at the University of Bordeaux I in 1990. From 1989 to 2002, he worked at the European Commission (DG Research) in Brussels where he managed various Research and Technological Development (RTD) projects in the field of quality assurance, analytical method development and pre‐normative research for environmental analyses in the framework of the Standards, Measurements and Testing Programme. In 1999, he obtained an HDR (Diplôme d'Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches) in chemistry at the University of Pau, France, from a study of the quality assurance of chemical species' determination in the environment.

In 2002, he left the research world to move to the policy sector at the EC Environment Directorate‐General where he developed a new EU Directive on groundwater protection against pollution and chaired European science‐policy expert groups on groundwater and chemical monitoring in support of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. He moved back to the ECDGResearch in 2008, where he acted as research Programme Officer and managed research projects on climate change impacts on the aquatic environment and on hydrometeorological hazards, whilst ensuring strong links with policy networks. In April 2013 he moved to another area of work, namely Security Research, at the EC DG Enterprise and Industry where he is research Programming and Policy Officer in the fields of Crisis Management and CBRN.

Besides his EC career, Philippe Quevauviller has remained active in academic and scientific developments. He is Associate Professor at the Free University of Brussels and promoter of Master theses in an international Master on Water Engineering (IUPWARE programme), which is under this function that he is acting as Series Editor of the Hydrometeorological Extreme Events Series for Wiley. He also teaches integrated water management issues and their links to EU water science and policies to Master students of the EurAquae programme at the Polytech'Nice (France).

Philippe Quevauviller has published (as author and coauthor) more than 220 scientific and policy publications in the international literature, 54 book chapters, 80 reports and 6 books and has acted as an editor and co‐editor for 26 special issues of scientific journals and 15 books. He also coordinated a book series for Wiley on Water Quality Measurements which resulted in 10 books published between 2000 and 2011.

Series Preface

The rising frequency and severity of hydrometeorological extreme events have been reported in many studies and surveys, including the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. This report and other sources highlight the increasing probability that these events are partly driven by climate change, whilst other causes are linked to the increased exposure and vulnerability of societies in exposed areas (which are not only due to climate change but also to mismanagement of risks and ‘lost memories’ about them). Efforts are ongoing to enhance today's forecasting, prediction, and early warning capabilities in order to improve the assessment of vulnerability and risks and to develop adequate prevention, mitigation, and preparedness measures.

This book series, titled ‘Hydrometeorological Extreme Events’, has the ambition to gather available knowledge in this area, taking stock of research and policy developments at an international level. Whilst individual publications exist on specific hazards, the proposed series is the first of its kind to propose an enlarged coverage of various extreme events that are generally studied by different (not necessarily interconnected) research teams.

The series comprises several volumes dealing with the various aspects of hydrometeorological extreme events, primarily discussing science–policy interfacing issues, and developing specific discussions about floods, coastal storms (including storm surges), droughts, resilience and adaptation, and governance. Whilst the books examine the crisis management cycle as a whole, the focus of the discussions is generally oriented towards the knowledge base of the different events, prevention and preparedness, and improved early warning and prediction systems.

The involvement of internationally renowned scientists (from different horizons and disciplines) behind the knowledge base of hydrometeorological events makes this series unique in this respect. The overall series will provide a multidisciplinary description of various scientific and policy features concerning hydrometeorological extreme events, as written by authors from different countries, making it a truly international book series.

Following a first volume introducing the series and a second volume on coastal storms, the ‘drought’ volume was the third book of this series. This book, focusing on governance and climate and health aspects, was written by renowned experts in the field, covering various horizons and (policy and scientific) views. The forthcoming volume of the series will focus on floods.

Philippe Quevauviller

Series Editor

Part IIntroduction

1Governance Challenges Facing Hydrometeorological Extreme Events

Isabelle La Jeunesse1 and Corinne Larrue2

1 Laboratory CNRS 7324 Citeres, University of Tours, Tours, France

2 Lab’Urba, Ecole d'Urbanisme de Paris, Université Paris Est Créteil, Marne‐La‐Vallée, France

After the preamble on the complementarity of the six volumes of the series on hydrometeorological extreme events edited by Philippe Quevauviller, this chapter aims to provide the readers with two main reading grids. First, it proposes some definitions of the hydrometeorological extreme events considered in this book. Second, it refers to the concept of adaptive governance to introduce the framework proposed for the governance analysis of the three hydrometeorological extreme events considered in this book, namely floods, droughts, and coastal storms.

1.1 Introduction

Introducing this book on the governance of hydrometeorological extreme events necessitates, first of all, defining what is meant by hydrometeorological extreme events for societies and what they are forecast to be in the context of climate change. Then we will introduce the governance issue related to hydrometeorological events in order to frame the specific situations set out throughout this book, which sketch the specific geographical and political contexts within which these governance issues take place.

1.2 Facing hydrometeorological extreme events

Hydrometeorological variability is inherent to terrestrial climate. Hydrometeorological extreme events are part of this variability. Societies are thus naturally exposed to hydrometeorological extreme events and have, through history, developed different strategies to manage their vulnerabilities. Each year, millions of people are affected by hydrometeorological extreme events all over the world, including Europe, with an observed and reported increase in severity and frequency (Harding et al. 2015). The total amount of floods and economic losses associated with these events have increased over the past decades (Bates et al. 2008; Kundzewicz et al. 2014), as confirmed by the NatCat SERVICE1 – a database on natural disasters managed by the Munich Re reinsurance agency (Figure 1.1). Overall losses have been assessed to represent more than USD 500 billion.

Figure 1.1 Percentage distribution for relevant weather‐related losses in Europe over the 1980–2017 period © Munich Re reinsurance database.

In 2012, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produced a Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. This report is commonly referred to as the SREX report. Its main objective is to prevent hydrometeorological extreme events by exploring the physical and social dimensions of weather‐ and climate‐related disasters. Thus, hydrometeorological extreme events must be considered in the context of global warming and its impacts.

According to the IPCC report on extreme events, climate extremes (extreme weather or climate event) means the occurrence of a value of a weather or climate variable above (or below) a threshold value near the upper (or lower) ends of the range of values observed for the variable (IPCC 2012). To simplify, both extreme weather events and extreme climate events are referred to collectively as ‘climate extremes’ (IPCC 2012). These include any rare, intense, and severe extreme events (Beniston et al. 2007).

All these extreme events – floods, droughts, and coastal storms – originate from climate‐system extremes such as persistent anticyclonic conditions or strong gradients in atmospheric pressure and temperature. Thus, if the climate changes, as a consequence, extreme events can also change. Scenarios proposed by the IPCC report on extreme events predict an increase in these events, both in frequency and intensity.

These extreme events are expected to have major impacts throughout Europe, including on water management. However, as regards the impacts on societies, it is always necessary to set these events in a historical context. As shown through the work of climate historians, history testifies to series of extreme events having taken place in Europe between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries (Garnier 2015). The impacts of past extreme events on societies (Le Roy Ladurie, Rousseau, and Vasak 2011) give important information on what current governance could consider in its risk‐assessment process. The Sendai framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which was established by the UN General Assembly in March 2015 (as a follow up to the Hyogo framework), aimed at increasing the preparedness for climate change impacts through a framework supporting the ‘substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries’ (Sendai Framework 2015). In order to achieve this overall outcome by 2030, the Sendai working groups focused on the following goals: ‘Prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks through the implementation of integrated and inclusive economic, structural, legal, social, health, cultural, educational, environmental, technological, political and institutional measures that prevent and reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response and recovery, and thus strengthen resilience’. These efforts are expected to: (i) generate the information base for the development of Sendai Framework implementation strategies, (ii) facilitate the development of risk‐informed policies and decision‐making processes, and (iii) guide the allocation of appropriate resources.2 This must be based on efficient governance for integrated risk management.

This being said, as an introduction to this book on the governance of hydrometeorological extreme events, it seems necessary to provide an overview of the main characteristics of the hydrometeorological extreme events presented and the main impacts and adaptation strategies proposed at European level. Since the main hydrometeorological extreme events occurring in Europe are floods, droughts, and coastal storms, this book focuses on these three types of extreme event.

1.3 Floods

In Europe, flooding is probably the leading natural hazard. Flood lists are mentioned in several webpages and commonly engraved on the piers of river bridges. The European Environment Agency provides a datasheet containing information on past floods in Europe since 1980,3 based on the reporting of European Union (EU) Member States for the EU Floods Directive (2007/60/EC), along with information provided by relevant national authorities and global databases on natural hazards. The summer of 2016 was the scene of major floods throughout Europe, where Germany and France, along with Austria, Belgium, Romania, Moldova, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom were highly impacted.

1.3.1 Definition and characteristics

In English, the word flood describes both the natural variability of a river with a maximum flow during the wet period, and the inundation phenomenon due to the river coming out of its bed and filling the floodplains. Thus, a flooding event, as an extreme hydrometeorological event, is a situation in which water temporarily covers land not frequently flooded.

Flood can be described by hydrological characteristics such as:

Flood intensity

, which is characterized by inundation depth and volume;

Flood frequency

, which represents the number of times an area is inundated during a particular time interval; and

Flood duration

, which is the length of time during which a particular area is inundated.

These hydrological characteristics of floods are used to study the series of historical data and to forecast flooding events. Also, in flood management, hydrological characteristics are linked with their consequences both on natural systems and human societies so as to prevent flood damage and design alert systems. Following this, floods can be described according to flow speed, the physical characteristics of the catchment area, and the main causes of flooding. We can distinguish:

Riverine flooding

– the slow increase of the height of the water in the riverbed due to an unusual rainfall event, in spring with snowmelt or in summer if glaciers melt. It occurs in river floodplains in areas with low topographic elevation when the upstream basin experiences heavy rainfalls. With large rivers, the flow speed and rising speed processes are relatively slow. This type of flood can be due to an obstruction in the flow path. These types of floods last the longest amongst flooding events.

Mudflow

– any type of flooding that engages high quantities of sediments. Flash floods due to heavy rainfalls in upper parts of catchments usually mobilize a large quantity of mud. However, mudflow usually concerns steeper watersheds with poor soils highly sensitive to erosion. The impacts are comparable to snow avalanches.

Coastal flooding

– flooding due to particular concomitant physical conditions where the river is in flood and the pressure on the sea does not enable the water to flow into the sea. This usually occurs close to the mouth of the river and the delta area. However, this type of flooding can be induced by storm surges, which are described later.

Urban flooding

or

urban drainage flooding

– is specific as the cause is usually aggravated by a lack of drainage and infiltration in partially impervious urban areas and all these areas are highly vulnerable. This occurs when the drainage infrastructure becomes blocked or overwhelmed due to high‐intensity rainfall. Thus, this type of flooding impacts areas close to drainage channels and house basements.

Flash flooding

– a localized flood where water flows in at great speed. The flow speed of the water is mainly determined by the slope of the terrain rained on. The steeper the slope, the faster the water flows. This usually concerns mountain and hilly areas, as well as highly impervious catchments after heavy and localized rainfall. The warning time is very short, less than one hour for some hydro systems. Flash floods can also be induced by structure failures, such as for instance, when a dike or a dam breaks and a large amount of water is released suddenly. The water speed at the breach is similar to the speed of a flash flood, but sometimes involves much larger volumes.

Pluvial flooding or water logging

– due to an accumulation of water exceeding saturation conditions and forming a layer – on agricultural fields and streets alike – provoking significant and unusual runoff. These events are due to excessive rainfall. This issue concerns both urban and agricultural land.

With all this, the height of surface waters, which leads to flooding when a defined threshold is exceeded, can be exacerbated by different natural and anthropogenic factors. Most of the time, floods are caused by an unusual duration of rainfall. However, in some conditions, torrential rains or storms cause flooding. In the summer season, in hydro systems linked to mountain areas, a high average temperature can also result in increased snowmelt with, hence, a high discharge downstream.

Land use and land cover in watersheds are also highly implicated in the variability of the hydrological responses of the catchment to rainfall. The proportion of forest areas in the upper parts of the catchment decreases the runoff generated by heavy rainfalls in these upper parts. Downstream, wetlands buffer the volumes of water and thus have a significant impact on flow peaks. Moreover, depending on how natural meanders have been managed throughout the river's history, the linearity of the river is highly efficient in decreasing flow speed in the riverbed. Last but not least, the proportion of impermeable areas versus soil infiltration capacity has an impact on the height of water runoff and flow peak volumes.

1.3.2 Impacts and adaptation

Both during and after floods, any kind of economic activity may be impacted due to disruptions or possible damage to infrastructure and transportation networks. In many cases, residents of flooded houses are invited to move. It is also well‐known that floods have a significant psychological impact, since when someone's house or work place is flooded they can lose everything. However, the impact is considered only if it is negative for the environment and/or human activities. And it all depends on where and when the flooding took place. For instance, flooding has higher impact in cities than in wetlands and is more or less significant in agricultural areas depending on the time of the year and stage of crop growth.

To reduce the impact of flooding, the management options vary from environmental actions to flood defence infrastructures. These may include, for example building a storm basin, restoring river banks, dredging rivers, rehabilitating drained or inefficient wetland areas, and increasing the surface of forests in the upper parts of the catchment. The hydrological modelling facilities are used by national/regional/local communities to assess the effects of either option (e.g. river flow, volume stored in storm basins, and inundated areas).

To prevent flood damage, and in particular to avoid loss of life, authorities need to anticipate and communicate to citizens and economic agents at different decisional levels on the state of the flooding event. In fact, whilst the water level slowly rises in large rivers, officials can first inform citizens as well as decide to evacuate people before the river overflows. However, the area that is flooded can be huge and require local communities, included isolated ones, to be highly organized. Many prevention systems exist, depending on national incentives and local community investment. At the European level, the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS)4 – developed in the context of several European research projects, is now a single operational European monitoring and forecasting system for floods across Europe. It provides complementary information to the National and Regional Hydrological Services and to the European Response and Coordination Centre operating within the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department.

1.4 Drought

1.4.1 Definition and characteristics

Drought refers to a period of abnormally dry weather long enough to cause serious hydrological imbalance (IPCC 2012). Considering this, any region of the globe can suffer from drought. However, drought is a relative term and therefore needs to be clarified. In this book, ‘drought’, as a hydrometeorological extreme event, refers to the impact of an exceptional lack of rainfall. In contrast to aridity, which is a permanent feature of the climate and is restricted to low rainfall areas, drought is a temporary water shortage condition compared to the average situation. It is usually the consequence of a natural reduction in the amount of rainfall received over an extended period of time, which can be caused or aggravated by other climatic factors, such as high temperatures, high winds, or low relative humidity. Based on this, and depending on the main causes or impacts, some definitions of droughts have been proposed. These are usually grouped into five types (Wilhite and Glantz 1985):

Meteorological drought

, which is mainly due to a long period of no or very low rainfall;

Hydrological drought

, which is characterized by below average river flows;

Agricultural drought

, which refers to a soil moisture deficit affecting crops;

Mega drought

, which is a persistent and extended drought that lasts for a much longer period than normal; and

Socioeconomic drought

has also been considered in order to name droughts induced by human factors, causing, for instance, excessive demands on a supply‐demand system. These occur when the demand for water exceeds the supply (Wilhite and Glantz

1985

).

The last type of drought makes it possible to distinguish between drought (and drought impacts) and water scarcity. Thus, water scarcity and drought (WS&D) are two interrelated but distinct concepts. Water scarcity may result from a range of phenomena, which may either be produced by natural causes – such as drought, or can also be induced by human activities alone, or, as is usually the case, may result from the interaction of both (Pereira, Cordery, and Lacovides 2002). This explains why the relevant policy at European level is called ‘water scarcity and drought policies’.

1.4.2 Impacts and adaptation

Over the past four centuries, Europe has been affected by severe droughts (Garnier 2015). No later than 1921, a severe drought occurred with rainfalls 40% lower than usual, from England to Italy. It affected a large part of Europe and even provoked a famine in Eastern Europe. Later on, the 1976 drought was especially severe in the Northern half of France and affected other parts of North‐western Europe (Le Roy Ladurie et al. 2011).

Since then, both policy literature and the popular press have pointed out in the 1990s the potential water wars that reduced water availability, resulting from climate‐induced changes, could generate in parallel with demographic growth. Indeed, water scarcity is often cited as a cause of water conflicts, which in turn can threaten water security, enabling us to draw a link between droughts and water security in Europe (Liberatore 2013).

We can already note that the number of people and areas in Europe affected by drought and water scarcity has increased by 20% between 1976 and 2006 (European Commission [EC] 2007). The total cost of these 30 years of drought amounts to € 100 billion (EC 2007). This makes it crucial to deal with drought and water scarcity now, and increase drought resilience before the problem grows even larger. In its 2007 Communication Report, the EC clearly stated that devising effective drought risk management strategies must be regarded as an EU priority.

Out of all hydrometeorological extreme events, drought is undoubtedly the most complex as both its causes and impacts are not very well known or understood, nor are they described and modelled. This partly explains why overall losses are usually more significant than insured losses for climatological events whereas for hydrological events (floods) these losses are very similar, as shown by the extractions of Munich Re’s reinsurance database. This can be demonstrated by the two graphs presenting natural disaster losses for Europe in 2016 and 2017. In 2016 there were major floods, mainly in France, Germany, and the Netherlands (Figure 1.2). In 2017, Europe was more affected by freezing events and droughts, where mainly Spain, Italy, and Serbia were affected by dry conditions and heatwaves with low water levels in rivers and reservoirs, which affected crops, fruits, vineyards, and pasture land (Figure 1.3).

Figure 1.2 Percentage distribution for relevant weather‐related loss events in Europe in 2016.

Figure 1.3 Percentage distribution for relevant weather‐related loss events in Europe in 2017.

In fact, although a lack of rainfall is a frequent phenomenon from a climatic point of view, drought and its socio‐economic impacts depend not only on the severity and the spatial extent of the rainfall deficit, but also on several factors such as the state of the environment, as well as social and economic vulnerabilities. Some authors have pointed out that inadequate land use practices, unsustainable management of water resources, and inadequate risk management are key factors in explaining the drought impacts (Vogt and Somma 2000).

The impacts on socio‐economic activities are mainly due to losses in agricultural production, which mostly concerns wheat in Europe as it is a non‐irrigated crop covering a large amount of agricultural areas. Affected non‐irrigated crops are considered as really representative of the production impacted by rainfall deficits. However, irrigated crops are also impacted, yet it is more difficult to establish a cause–consequence relation. Drought impacts are also related to reductions in hydropower energy production and environmental degradation. Last but not least, droughts generally provoke public water supply cuts, both because of a degradation of water quality and the quantity of water available. As regards security, another major consequence of droughts is dryness and possible fire outbreaks, as well as the management of heatwave effects, which usually induce an increased water consumption.

From an historical perspective, in the first volume of this series, E. Garnier proposed an interesting drought severity index adapted to available European information from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries (Garnier 2015). This index is proposed to be compared to the physical drought classification mentioned above. An index scale between −1 and 5 is given according to the information available in archives. The −1 index is proposed to be used to characterize an event kept in the chronological reconstruction that has insufficient qualitative and quantitative information. Index 1 is mainly dedicated to an absence of rainfall, and thus mainly applies to meteorological droughts as per the physical definition provided earlier, with lots of evidence of the issue in historical texts and materialized by several rogations (in the Christian Church this is a solemn supplication consisting of the litany of the Saints chanted for requiring rainfall). Index 2 can be used for the observation of local low‐water in rivers, with notified effects on vegetation. As far as this index concerns the vegetation, it can be compared to agricultural droughts. Index 4 expresses severe low‐water marks associated with impossible navigation in rivers, wheat mill lay‐offs, search for new springs, forest fire outbreaks, as well as cattle deaths. This level corresponds to a severe hydrological drought. The last index, no. 5, is proposed for exceptional droughts, also referred to as mega droughts, without any possible supply, shortages, sanitary problems, and very high wheat prices, along with several forest fires.

Above all, droughts are expected to increase in the future as a result of climate change. Amongst the impacts is an increase in the frequency and severity of drought periods and water scarcity (EC 2012). In 2007, 11% of the European population and 17% of the European territory were affected by drought (EC 2007).

In this century, despite an increased awareness of drought hazards at European level through the work on the common implementation strategy groups of the water framework directive (WFD) dedicated to drought for instance, the tools, instruments, and management strategies for capitalizing data, risk assessment, forecasting, monitoring, and adapting to potential droughts are not clearly defined. After one of the most widespread droughts affecting over 100 million people in 2003 – one‐third of the EU territory, the cost of which was assessed at € 8.7 billion at EU level, the EU Council of Ministers asked the EC to address the challenges of WS&Ds in the EU. This led to the communication of several measures to integrate WS&Ds in river basin management plans in 2007. These were summarized in seven policy options5:

Putting the right price tag on water;

Allocating water and water‐related funding more efficiently;

Improving drought risk management;

Considering additional water supply infrastructures;

Fostering water efficient technologies and practises;

Fostering the emergence of a water‐saving culture in Europe; and

Improving knowledge and data collection.

A final report on the Review of the European WS&D Policy was completed in November 2012. This report responds to the 2007 Council request to review by 2012 whether the policy on WS&Ds has achieved its objectives of reducing water scarcity and vulnerability to droughts. It also looks into whether actions taken in the implementation of the WFD6 helped address WS&D. This report is part of the ‘Blue Print for Safeguarding European Waters’ adopted by the European Commission on 14 November 2012.

1.5 Coastal storms