The RetNat project is investigating the retention effect of nature-based and area-based measures as part of flood risk management.
Traditionally, water management interest groups have often focused their flood protection subsidy programs and financing channels on the implementation of point measures (e.g., retention basins), whereas hardly any funds are available for area-based measures. In contrast, there are concepts in which measures are taken not at the outlet of a catchment area, but within the catchment area itself. Requirements in the field of agriculture (e.g., rural development, ÖPUL measures, GAEC) generally point in the right direction. In these programs, measures are usually implemented on the basis of agricultural fields, so there are only a few measures that can have an impact across fields and thus take into account the idea of integrated catchment area-based problem solving.
Another problem arises from the reduced range of protective measures currently offered in various funding programs.
As a solution to the challenges mentioned above, this project aims to identify, develop, and review measures that ultimately have the goal of better addressing these overarching spatial issues and challenges at the watershed level. This will be achieved through the following aspects:
- Identification of protective measures for the temperate climate zone
- Monitoring and determination of input data for selected protective measures
- Model applications for various spatial situations in catchment areas, including a review of their accuracy
- Development of scenarios and, based on these, recommendations for action
The Lafnitz catchment area was chosen in order to achieve concrete implementation of these activities and to evaluate measures that have already been implemented. The background to this is that the European Union-funded HORIZON project “Land4Climate” is currently being implemented in the Lafnitz area (Styria and Burgenland).