The Drin basin Flood risk Management Plan
A recent review of the legal framework for flood management in the DRB carried out under the AF project shows that national flood legislation is based on the provisions of the EU Floods Directive (EUFD), as all Drin Riparians are in EU accession/candidate status, although with different levels of harmonization and implementation achieved.
National flood management plans based on flood risk maps are completed or under development in all Drin riparian countries, mainly with financial and technical support from the EU. However, little or no attention is given in these national policies to the transboundary impacts or management of floods.
According to the EUFD, European Member States must coordinate their flood risk management in shared river basins and, based on the principle of solidarity, must not take measures that have the potential to significantly increase flood risk for countries upstream or downstream in the same river basin. The Floods Directive encourages the development of a single international FRMP for transboundary basins.
Although flooding is the dominant hazard, there is no basin flood risk management plan that addresses climate-related flood risks. Flood risk management investments are not supported by robust climate risk analysis, and there are no investment plans and no comprehensive financial risk transfer mechanisms to address flooding.
National flood management policies have been designed using "traditional" approaches, while recorded events and economic losses have called into question their long-term effectiveness and sustainability.
The full integration of socio-economic and environmental impacts in the process of defining and selecting measures is still at an early stage, and a basin-wide approach, including transboundary impacts, is usually not fully considered by any of the Drin riparians.
In this context, and within the framework of the Drin Basin Flood Risk Strategy (under development), the AF Drin project will also support the development of the first Flood Risk Management Plan for the Drin Basin. This plan should serve as a policy document that will provide paradimm-shift in the proposed measures and operationalize activities leading to the achievement of the strategic goals set for the basin in the Strategy.
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