With parts of Paris under water and France facing its wettest January in more than a century, a major new report from the  OECD is warning that further improvements are needed to manage major flood risk in Paris and the Seine basin. Action to prevent the risk of major flooding in Paris and the Ile de France region has improved in recent years – particularly after the Seine burst its banks in May and June 2016.  However, urban and territorial planning needs to be better adapted, governance strengthened and long-term funding clarified, according to the OECD, which says that the risk of the Seine flooding in the Ile de France region is a major one.

The progress report – Preventing the Flooding of the Seine 2018 which was presented this week, also questions whether the flood prevention funding structure is sufficiently ambitious and assured over the long-term.

Commissioned by the Direction Régional and the Établissment Public Territorial de Bassin Seine Grands Lacs, the report said the authorities had made progress in 10 of the 14 recommendations from the OECD’s 2014 Review Seine Basin, Île-de-France, Resilience to Major Floods. Most progress had been made in understanding the vulnerabilities and reinforcing a culture of risk prevention.

However, the OECD says that although important efforts have been made to improve the governance of risk prevention, a fragmented institutional structure is undermining a commitment to specific, long-term objectives.

Reports:

Click here to download Preventing the Flooding of the Seine 2018

Click here to read the OECD report online Seine Basin, Île-de-France, 2014: Resilience to Major Floods