Europe | Mitigating flood risk
A recent webinar organised by ICOLD’s European Club and its Young Professional Forum, has given an insight into the strategic role of dams in managing flooding across Europe.
FLOODING ACROSS EUROPE since 2000 has had significant economic and environmental impacts. What is most concerning though, is that fatalities caused by floods have also spiked dramatically in certain years, with available data suggesting that central, western and southern Europe are most affected in terms of frequency and fatalities.
Indeed, during the period 2000-2025, apart from five years (2003,4,8,15 and 22) there has been severe flooding across Europe, in multiple countries, every single year. The idea of organising a webinar on the role of dams during such flood events was prompted by the realisation that although we hear about the impacts, we rarely hear about the role dams play in such situations, said Sarah Lazaridu, President of the ICOLD European Club.
European Club ICOLD’s European Club consists of 27 European ICOLD
Below: The River Sava flooding in Slovenia in 2023. Sanja Karin Music/
Shutterstock.com
committees and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025. Its purpose is to encourage the cooperation and exchange of information between European countries in areas of significance, such as dam safety, whilst focusing on emerging issues throughout Europe, such as floods. The scope of the webinar was to examine the role and performance of dams during severe flood events, looking at how they operate under extreme conditions, as well as when combined with other flood protection systems, especially levees. The aim was to identify and assess their contribution to mitigating downstream impacts, particularly protecting communities and critical infrastructure. Using case studies, proactive practices and real-time decision making were discussed, drawing lessons for operational rules, emergency action plans and coordination with authorities. Ultimately, the importance of communicating the role of dams in flood risk management to decision makers, stakeholders and the wider public, was also highlighted.
Slovenia Mateja Klun, Chair of ICOLD’s Young Professional
Forum, is also a Research and Teaching Assistant in Civil and Geodetic Engineering at Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana. She spoke about the flooding that occurred in August 2023 when overall damages, including indirect and resilience-related costs, were estimated in the region of ten billion euros - over 10% of Slovenia’s GDP. “This was recognised as the largest natural disaster
to happen to our country since its independence,” Klun commented, explaining that after 72 hours of rainfall, floods and landslides affected 183 of 212 of Slovenia’s municipalities. “We’re used to severe rainfall every year but not on a national scale. This time the entire country was basically affected,” she said. Giving a background to the event, Klum explained how there are three climate regions in Slovenia – sub- mediterranean, alpine and continental. The weather varies from cold winters, hot summers, with rain in the fall and spring (snowmelt), and an average annual precipitation of 1590mm. Four main rivers – the Soca, Sava, Drava and Mura Rivers -traverse across the country which has roughly 41,071km of rivers and watercourses – equal to 2km per 1km2 of territory. And with more than half of the country identified as an area with high landslide susceptibility, Klun said: “When it comes to natural events a lot can happen to us, and a lot has also been experienced in the past.”
Flood of 2023
In 2023, Slovenia had unusual summer weather which was more typical of autumnal and winter conditions. July 2023 was already very wet and precipitation was well above the long-term average. In some regions it was even up to three times higher than the monthly average. Klun says there was so much rain, the weather agency almost issued a red warning every week during July. The Mediterranean Sea was also very warm and there was a lot of humidity in air. At the beginning of August a weather system approaching Slovenia stayed in place for three days, and as the concentration of rain was forming, the weather agency once again issued a red warning. From 3-6 August 2023, high water levels of discharge
or water stages were exceeded at 122 hydrological stations on 74 rivers across Slovenia. Extreme flows were measured and 74 rivers were flooded. Record discharges were recorded at 31 stations, most of which reached a 100-year or higher return period. The three largest Slovenian rivers – Sava, Drava and Mura – flooded simultaneously which was something never experienced before, Klun added. These August floods affected an estimated 17,203km2
of Slovenia, with 1200 larger
landslides (and more smaller ones) occurring, 1000 houses destroyed and 15,000 households affected. “At the moment we are still in the rehabilitations stage, and it has been estimated it will take us five years, probably more in the end, to recover from this disaster,” Klun admitted.
14 | May 2026 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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