Flood Risk Management In French
Mediterranean Basins
Author(s)
F. Vinet
Abstract
After severe flash floods that caused many fatalities a few years ago in the
Mediterranean regions of France, the French government decided to help local
authorities to reduce flood risk. Through the example of small basins in southern
France, this paper shows the principles and the practises involved in mitigating
flood risk. The flood risk management plans, established by river basin
authorities, are subsidized both by the central government and by local
authorities. They illustrate the progressive change of philosophy in flood
management policy. The principles of flood risk management have changed
through history from structural measures (dikes, embankments, dams) to
non-structural methods (e.g., land-use planning, preparedness measures,
reduction of vulnerability, early-warning systems, human collective memory and
public awareness). The flood risk management policies are thus politically and
technically integrated. This paper points out some of the reasons that can explain
the success or the failure of flood risk reduction in a river basin. It shows how
partisan politics can be an obstacle to the implementation of such plans. The last
challenge is to evaluate the positive and negative effects of the flood-mitigation
policies. This work finishes by proposing some indicators to evaluate the real
effects of flood reduction.
Keywords: flash floods, flood management plans, Mediterranean basins, dikes.
1 Introduction
For twenty years, a change of paradigm in flood risk management has been
spreading in many countries. This shift has been late in France (Pottier et al. [1]).
Recent dramatic floods, revealing the failure of previous flood management
policies, have obliged national and local authorities to change their point of
Keywords
flash floods, flood management plans, Mediterranean basins, dikes.
Related Book
Other papers in this volume
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