Challenges for mainstreaming climate change into EU flood and drought policy: Water retention measures in the Warta River Basin, Poland

Abstract

This paper discusses four challenges for mainstreaming climate change into European flood and drought risk management policies within the water and agriculture sectors: the climate change impact challenge; the robust policy challenge; the EU policy maze challenge; and the implementation challenge. We illustrate with examples from the Warta River Basin in Poland. The challenge of reliably estimating the impact of climate change on flood and drought risk at the local and regional scales has led to the pursuit of robust policy solutions. Robust policy solutions, as we demonstrate by comparing reservoirs and small ponds, can be equally intractable given the lack of information on their costs, benefits, and co-benefits, particularly if climate change is taken into account. The mainstreaming challenge is further complicated by the myriad of EU policies targeting flood and drought risks. While the European Commission is working towards a coherent policy picture, we demonstrate contradictions regarding reservoir and other water retention policies. Finally, mainstreaming climate change in flood and drought policy is further challenged by the web of responsible institutions at local, regional, and national scales.