25/08/2005 – The Bulgarian
government has requested financial aid from
the European Union for relief from recent
floods that have devastated large parts
of the country.
Although recognizing the importance of
EU support following the natural disaster,
including assistance to repair infrastructure,
WWF is concerned that a requested €200 million
of aid from the EU's Solidarity Fund may
contribute to larger and ever more devastating
effects of flood events in the future.
Bulgarian government officials and experts
reacted to the floods, which began in late
May, by blaming the destruction on the inability
of current river infrastructure – such as
dykes and dams – to control floodwaters.
“If EU funds are spent only on building
more dykes, dams, and canals without restoring
natural retention zones, the impacts of
future floods will only be worse,” said
Christine Bratrich, a freshwater expert
with WWF's Danube-Carpathian Programme Office
based in Vienna. Austria.
“We cannot prevent floods, but we can limit
their effects by working with nature rather
than against it. We must invest in natural
flood protection by giving more space to
rivers, by reconnecting rivers to their
natural floodplains.”
WWF studies and demonstration projects
throughout the world have proven that the
damage from flooding is best controlled
if rivers are connected to their natural
floodplains, which act as natural retention
zones and sponges during times of floods.
“Nearly 80 per cent of the Danube River’s
floodplains and those of many of its tributaries
have been cut off from the river over the
past 150 years," Bratrich added. "Had
they remained connected, the rivers would
have better absorbed the extra flood volumes
and damage would have been less.”
Recent findings from the International
Commission for the Protection of the Danube
River (ICPDR) also fail to support new infrastructure
works. Their new report found that 90 per
cent of the Danube River is now at risk
of failing to meet EU environmental standards
because of the massive physical changes
that have been made to the river past years.
The ICPDR’s new Action Programme on Sustainable
Flood Protection further encourages Danube
countries, including Bulgaria, to combine
natural flood protection with river restoration
works.
"The best way now to help rural residents
and the environment in Bulgaria is to restore
natural conditions of the rivers so that
they can naturally control floods,"
said WWF’s water expert in Bulgaria, Ivan
Hristov.
"That’s what any new funds should
be used for. Otherwise EU aid will only
be for companies that receive funds to build
unnecessary dykes, dams, canals, and other
river infrastructure.”
The EU has yet to decide on the Bulgaria's
application for emergency aid.
