Arcadis to assess flood risks in Poland
Dutch-based consultancy firm Arcadis announced that it will work on flood hazard and risk maps in Poland. Arcadis was commissioned by the Polish National Water Management Authority as part of a consortium which includes the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute and MGGP S.A., a private sector partner.
The project completion is scheduled for 2020. Its value amounts to PLN 37 million (€ 8,8 million), to be shared by the consortium partners, and it will be co-financed by the European Union Cohesion Fund, within the framework of Operational Program Infrastructure and Environment 2014–2020.
Flood Directive European Union
The European Union’s Flood Directive asks member states to review and revise its flood hazard and flood risk maps every 6 years. Poland has now started the second cycle of mapping of the river network for the entire country. During the previous cycle, Arcadis was involved in the flood hazard and risk management plans for the Lower and Middle Vistula regions.
Two-step process
The project follows a two-step process. In phase one, the consortium partners will develop flood hazard maps, which will determine the flooding range for 3 probabilities of occurrence (low probability – 500-year flood, medium – 100-year flood, high – 10-year flood). Secondly, flood risk maps will be prepared. They will specify the number of inhabitants endangered by flooding, assess the value of potential losses and indicate assets which will be flooded in case of each flooding scenario.
Jolanta Olbracht, Arcadis Project Manager, commented: ‘Arcadis is responsible for the project realization in the Upper Vistula Water Region. It is one of the most flood-prone areas of Poland, in which total losses resulting from the floods in 1997, 2001 and 2010 amounted to more than PLN 14 billion (€ 3,3 billion). The total length of rivers in the Upper Vistula Water Region makes up 30% of the total length of rivers which are covered by the project.’
Flood risk management crucial in Europe
‘Good flood risk management is becoming more and more crucial in Europe’, states David van Raalten, European Director for Water Management. ‘Urban and rural areas are under increased threat of flooding due to climate change and increased urbanization. As such it is very good that our consortium will update all the flood risk maps for the entire country in one go. I am very proud of our Polish team winning this contract!’
This news item was originally publised on the website of Arcadis.
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More information
Arcadis Global
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
+31 20 2011 011
www.arcadis.com