Hydrogeological, hydraulic, and coastal risk reduction
The objective of the project, which focuses on reducing hydrogeological, hydraulic, and coastal risks in the seven participating regions, is to enhance the capacity of the civil protection system. This improvement aims to prevent and manage the impacts of increasingly frequent and intense weather and hydrological events, which are becoming more common due to climate change.
In this context, the CapRischio project seeks to improve the prevention and management of these risks by developing operational and knowledge-based tools to support the involved administrations.
Specifically, the activities aim to:
• Improve the understanding of natural phenomena that can be exacerbated by climate change;
• Strengthen monitoring and warning systems;
• Improve civil protection planning at the municipal, inter-municipal, and metropolitan levels;
• Develop event and risk scenarios useful for the prevention and management of emergencies;
• Promote effective territorial presence for the control of the most vulnerable areas.
Particular attention will be given to critical situations that can amplify the effects of intense precipitation. These include the presence of buried watercourses in urban areas, small dams, and areas affected by fires, where hydraulic risk can significantly increase.
The objectives will be achieved through:
• Improving existing products developed by the Department for hydrogeological and hydraulic risk as part of the "2014-2020 National Operational Programme on Governance and Institutional Capacity."
• Creating new products that address coastal risk.
• Applying the developed products in selected large urban areas, one for each of the seven involved regions, in collaboration with the relevant administrations.
• Ensuring that the developed products are adopted by the involved administrations through formal acts.
The project aligns with the guidelines outlined in the "National Climate Change Adaptation Plan," which was approved by the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) in December 2023. It also adheres to the national civil protection planning guidelines specified in the Directive from the President of the Council of Ministers dated April 30, 2021. Furthermore, the project is consistent with the European Union's goals for disaster resilience as established by the European Commission in its Recommendation of February 8, 2023.
The following outlines the specific activities of the project related to hydrogeological, hydraulic, and coastal risks.
This project involves creating a geodatabase focused on meteorological and hydrogeological events that have resulted in a national state of emergency over the past 15 years. The database will gather various types of data, including meteorological, pluviometric, and hydrometric information. It will also include information on ground effects such as landslides, flooding, overflows, and storm surges, as well as the damage caused to structures, infrastructure, and the environment.
This information system will serve as a crucial tool for analyzing the impacts of climate change and enhancing our ability to predict and assess potential events and damage scenarios. The geodatabase will be provided to the civil protection system, specifically to the network of Functional Centres and the regional and local administrations involved in prevention activities.
This activity focuses on developing methods and tools for creating event and risk scenarios to elaborate civil protection planning at municipal, inter-municipal, and metropolitan levels.
The scenarios will help identify:
• Critical points, which are locations that need to be monitored to quickly address the development of a potentially dangerous event.
• Areas of highest vulnerability, where the safety of individuals and the security of property may be most at risk.
Special attention will be given to the presence of buried watercourses in the area, particularly in urban settings, small dams, and areas affected by fires.
These activities will include defining procedures and organizational models for Hydrogeological and hydraulic territorial monitoring at the inter-municipal level. By directly monitoring the territory and identifying potential critical issues, this approach can provide crucial support for making quick decisions and implementing timely interventions.
The methodologies developed will be tested in seven pilot areas that are particularly exposed to risk: five metropolitan cities (Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Naples, and Reggio Calabria) and two provincial areas (Campobasso and Matera).
An additional focus is dedicated to addressing phenomena that impact coastal regions, to enhance coastal risk management. To achieve this, we will develop guidelines, procedures, and maps that define event and risk scenarios related to landslides on high coasts and storm surge phenomena on low coasts.
The project also involves defining monitoring systems, which include both instrumental and observational methods, along with specific warning systems for these phenomena. Additionally, it will apply the methodologies developed across seven case studies, one for each of the participating regions.