Drought & Water Scarcity Management Plan for the River Basin District of Eastern Sterea Ellada (GR07), Greece
(integrated in the WFD RBMP of GR07)
Special Secretariat for Water of the Hellenic Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate Change and NAMA S.A.
In the framework of the River Basin Management Plan of the River Basin District (RBD) of Eastern Sterea Ellada (GR07), a dedicated Drought and Water Scarcity Management Plan (DWSMP) has been developed, based on the principles of proactive management and planning. The main purpose of the DWSMP was to quantify the drought and water scarcity phenomena in the River Basin District of Eastern Sterea Ellada (GR07), to assess possible methodologies for the prediction of future events, and to propose adequate response measures for the various risk levels. In more details, the current study has achieved:
- The identification and analysis of historic drought and water scarcity events, and of their characteristics (duration, intensity, extent), for the time period 1980-2010.
- The development of a methodology to accurately map drought and water scarcity in the RBD so that the stakeholders and end-users have in their hands a simple and understandable monitoring tool, at the adequate scale, useful for further defining the related risks in the next stages.
- The assessment of the impacts (environmental and socio-economic) of past drought events in the RBD, and the evaluation of their adverse effect in achieving the environmental targets of the Water Framework Directive (Article 4).
- The assessment of the related vulnerability and risk to water scarcity and drought, and the definition of relevant vulnerability zones (drought and water scarcity vulnerability mapping), taking into consideration the prevailing physical (climate change, land use, etc.) and socio-economic conditions (water demand). For this purpose, a specific methodology has been developed, as well as relevant indicators.
- The analysis of drought and water scarcity phenomena for the purpose of early warning. To this extent, a methodology for the early detection of potential upcoming drought events, with a horizon of 3-6 months, has been developed, based on the SPI, in order to support the operational planning of drought mitigation. Furthermore, suggestions have been made regarding the development of an early warning system, with the main system parameters being analysed.
- The development of recommendation for the proper management of drought and water scarcity in the RBD based on operational planning, and the discussion of detailed measures to be taken for each alert level.
