LocAll4Flood project meets in Vic to continue work on improving flash flood response
Floods caused by rivers that generally have low or intermittent flows represent a major threat in the Mediterranean region.
The LocAll4Flood project consortium, coordinated by the UVic-UCC’s BETA Technology Centre, met this week in Vic to continue the development of a new integrated governance model to improve the management of flash floods in the Mediterranean. In addition to the BETA TC, this project funded by the Interreg Euro-Med programme involves the participation of other entities such as the Euroregion Pyrenees-Mediterranean, the University of the Balearic Islands, the Energy and Water Agency of Malta, the Association for Research and Development of the Black Sea and Danube of Bulgaria, the National Research Council of Italy, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Catalan company HYDS.
Floods caused by rivers that generally have low or intermittent flows represent a major threat in the Mediterranean region. Climate change aggravates this situation, highlighting the need for improved prevention, adaptation and mitigation measures, especially in small catchment areas and islands.
Following the launch meeting last January, the group has already begun to define the actions to be carried out in the pilot territories, including the area of Vic and Gurb, where sensors will be used to monitor the torrents that have caused flooding and different scenarios will be modelled. In addition, possible adaptation and mitigation actions will be studied at all levels for future territorial planning, with the aim of sharing this knowledge with the city councils of Vic and Gurb and other agents in the territory.
LocAll4Flood’s new governance model will be comprehensive and involve all stakeholders, from the grassroots to the top. This model will be tested in nine pilot territories in six regions vulnerable to the problem.
This project stems in part from an earlier initiative funded by Euroregion Water, which already proposed sustainable solutions to improve the response to flash floods. An important part of these solutions relies on nature, an area in which BETA TC has been particularly active in recent years.
