STRATEGIES FOR FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT - A PROCESS PERSPECTIVE.

To manage extreme flood events like the Weisseritz flash flood within the Elbe river basin in August 2002 and their adverse impacts on people and properties, practitioners and scientists argue for a shift from the traditional paradigm of flood protection to flood risk management (Schanze 2002, DKKV 2003, Hall et al. 2003). However, developing a risk-based strategy is a difficult task. Directly after a severe flood event the need for an effective strategic approach to flood risk management is usually widely acknowledged. Nevertheless, after some time memories of the event and its causes fade and it is not easy to maintain political support for flood risk management in all relevant policy fields. As a consequence, flood risk issues are often outweighed in political and administrative decision processes (Fleming 2002) such as spatial planning (DKKV 2003). Furthermore, a strategic approach requires continuous co-operation of water authorities, local planning authorities, and regional bodies. But cooperation is costly (e.g., direct costs in terms of time, financial and human resources). Therefore, the request for a strategic approach to flood risk management does not suffice. It should be demonstrated how such an approach can be implemented under real-world conditions (Penning-Rowsell and Peerbolte 1994, Hutter 2005). Questions of how to formulate and implement strategies call for a process perspective (Poole 2004) on flood risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]