Canal-U

Turning Hazards into Ressources? Climate Change, Floods and Coastal Wetlands in the Costa Brava (North-East Iberian Peninsula)

According to the IPCC Fourth Assessment, one of the most vulnerable areas in Europe are coastal zones. This is due to sea level rise combined with increased risks from storms. Coastal wetlands, in particular, are projected to be negatively affected by sea-level rise especially where they are constrained on their landward side, and lack sediment supply. Approximately 20 percent of existing coastal wetlands may disappear by 2080 because of the expansion of the sea. Mediterranean low-lying sedimentary coasts with highly diverse ecosystems appear to be the most vulnerable areas to this phenomenon. The 4th IPCC Report also warns about the increasing likelihood of extreme events such as floods. However, for coastal wetlands (as well as for other ecosystems) floods need not to be considered necessarily a hazard. Rather, they could be seen as an important natural process contributing to groundwater recharge, to the provision of sediment loads to the coastal zone, and, more generally, to the equilibrium between fresh and salt water that, among other factors, make this transition areas so ecologically productive. In this paper we want to present the case study of the “Aiguamolls de l’Empordà” natural park, located in the North of the Costa Brava, to illustrate the possible benefits of larger floods originating from climate change for coastal wetlands. However, for this benefits to materialize it is fundamental to improve adaptation to flooding through a new management philosophy that accepts the axiom of “living with floods” rather than the usual, policy of minimizing or eliminating the hazard though hydraulic control works. Through mechanisms such as land use control, the adaptation of the built environment to flooding and compensatory mechanisms such as insurance, security can be enhances and floods may play a very important role in redressing the effects of sea level rise.