Reducing negative flood impacts in 'Apatinski rit': Part of special nature reserve 'Gornje Pondunavlje' (Vojvodina, Serbia) using GIS

During the history, the Danube valley was often devastated the northwest part of Bačka. However, the Danube river created also one of the most rich full wetland complexes in Serbia, Special Nature Reserve 'Gornje Pondunavlje' (Upper Danube). Hunting-ground 'Apatinski rit' is located within borders of SNR 'Gornje Podunavlje'. The people from this region constructed river embankments and other fortification objects to protect themselves from the floods, but still there are spacious areas that are not protected. In those areas, many floral and animal species (including game) face floods every year. High water level of the Danube River is the most dominant factor of change of habitat conditions in hunting ground 'Apatinski rit'. About 60% of the territory of 'Apatinski rit' are in the zone of floods. During the extreme high water level, game animals suffer serious losses. The purpose of this paper is to present possible application of geographic information system (GIS) in flood prediction in hunting-ground 'Apatinski rit' in order to reduce negative flood impacts. GIS technologies are used in many aspects of flood identification, prediction, and hazard mitigation. In this paper a 3D model is introduced to realize the flooded areas. The flooded areas are estimated based on the Danube water levels and topography of the surrounding terrain. The estimated flooded areas based on several water levels are shown in the paper. During the flood some parts of hunting ground are under water, and some higher courts remain dry. By using 3D model, all the isolated 'islands' with trapped game can be located during the floods, which is crucial for rescue intervention priorities and decision making during the flood.