The EU Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) and the national legislation for its implementation include preliminary flood risk assessment, flood mapping and flood risk management planning. 22 areas of potential significant flood risk are identified for the years 2018-2024 from the whole member state on the grounds of preliminary flood risk assessment. Flood hazard and risk maps have been prepared for those areas. There are additional more than 100 flood hazard maps for other identified areas. The flood risk management plans for fluvial floods have been or will be established for those river basins and coastal areas that include at least one area of potential significant flood risk. Regional flood management groups sets the objectives for flood risk management and approves the proposal for the plan and the measures included in it as well as organizes interaction between the authorities and local stakeholders. These groups consists of Regional councils, Centers of Economy, Transport and Environment , municipalities, area’s rescue service and other authorities.
In addition, municipalities are responsible for the flood risk management related to pluvial floods.
Three main steps of flood risk management.
Background on flood risk management in Finland
The purpose of flood risk management is to reduce flood risks, prevent and mitigate the adverse
consequences caused by floods and promote the preparedness for floods.
Almost annually, Finnish authorities try to protect against flood damage by preventing ice jams, monitoring the snowmelt and warning against occasional flooding caused by intensive rainfalls. Thus, operational flood control plans have been prepared for all major flood-prone water systems allready before Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) was implemented. In addition, over hundred flood hazard maps have already been prepared in Finland and through the first flood risk management plans over 400 measures were proposed for watersheds that include at least one significant flood risk area. To enhance flood protection and prevention several flood research and development projects have also been implemented. These include flood forecasting and warning systems and stormwater management projects (see: www.syke.fi)
Learnings from the first flood risk management cycle are described in the oral presentation abstract: Implementation of EU Floods Directive in Finland - lessons learned ans steps towards resilient planning
(Aaltonen et al. 2017. Oral presentation abstarct, 7th International Conference on Flood Management, Leeds, UK)
More information
Developement engineer Antti Parjanne, Finnish environment institute SYKE, firstname.surname@environment.fi