Bruce Horton: ‘A new report from the European Environment Agency provides an overview of significant floods in Europe and looks at the role of floodplains in flood protection, water management and nature conservation. Around 90% of European floodplains have been lost, and the report calls for a network of green infrastructures to complement hard defences. It predicts that annual flood losses can be expected to increase five-fold by 2050 and up to 17‑fold by 2080.’

This report (EEA Report No 1/2016) focuses on the role of floodplains in flood protection, water management, nature protection or agriculture and the impact of hydromorphological alterations on the ecosystem services that floodplains provide. The aim is to support the implementation of the EU Floods Directive (EU, 2007), in particular with regard to environmental impacts and how these can be linked to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. It looks at synergies between water management, nature conservation and economic developments both in the field and on policy level.

http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/flood-risks-and-environmental-vulnerability