Cost-benefit analysis of flood protection measures

The research project examined the cost-benefit ratios of alternative flood protection strategies from an integrated river basin-related perspective. In collaboration with the Federal Institute of Hydrology, technical flood protection measures and precautionary measures, e.g. in the form of surface area management, but also measures such as public information and promoting risk perception were discussed.

The evaluation approaches for identifying benefits and costs were compiled in a manual relating to typical categories of measures and discussed in the context of an expert workshop. Building on this, approaches were developed for compensation between upstream and downstream regions but also between different cost bearers and beneficiaries. The aim here was inter alia to devise economic instruments whose incentive effects trigger an “automatic steering” towards risk-minimising behaviour. The proposals developed were also examined with regard to their legal viability.

With the aid of practical scenarios, the usability of the cost-benefit analysis system elaborated in this study and the related compensation instruments was demonstrated to a wide circle of interested parties in the context of an integrated flood risk management.