River Morphology Changes and Its Consequences on Population - Case Study River Kolubara
Serbia was exposed by the heaviest rainfall in the history in May 2014. The flood in the Kolubara River Basin which occurred in May 2014 and caused catastrophic material damages and casualties was the latest and historical flood. The highest amount of rain was recorded in the period between May 14th and 16th, 2014.
Rationale
The city of Obrenovac (where 90 percent of the city was flooded, with flood waters in some areas more than 4 meters deep) in the lowest part of the Kolubara watershed was significantly affected. The government declared state of emergency due to severe floods, emloyed all rescue capacities and seeked help from other countries. This flood caused a significant destruction of the existing flood protection system, uncontrolled breaches of the existing riverbanks and flooding of the open mining pits, agricultural surfaces, towns and settlements, resulting in the loss of human life and huge material damage. Having in mind that the fluvial process in the lower part of the Kolubara River basin is characterized by an intense meandering riverbed and strong lateral erosion intensity, which caused riverbank collapsing, loss of arable land, land use changes, economic consequences, and finally the impact on population and settlements, it is important to establish strong connections between the human and nature, especially in the situations of unprecedented floods and catastrophes.
Strategy
Analysis of the causes and consequences of river erosion on floods and human settlements will be very useful for decision makers, because it will enable them to make more correct decisions and scenarios to address and reduce them. A better understanding of river erosion in this area will be of great importance for practical issues such as predicting floods and planning purposes, soil and water management, land use changes. The results will incorporate measures of spatial variability and the dynamic nature of river morphology, including the response to variations in the hydrological conditions such as through climate change. The long-term evidence will be used to quantify variability and help to set ranges of uncertainty in categories of river types.
Considering the loss of arable land resources, there is a suitable legal framework for compensation to owners which have lost parcels on the Kolubara river banks. Depending on damages there are different ways of compensation, which depends on case and must be established on the basis of existing legal solutions. If the changes of arable land class or land use changes are results of inadequate riverbed management, responsibility for the damages would exist.
Methods
- By comparing the data from different periods, we will determine the morphological changes in the course of the Kolubara River, and the amount of sediment load that reach Sava River is very high. In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of sequential aerial photographs in fluvial process studies, as well as location of settlements. Using the GIS software, digitalization of Kolubara shorelines (both left and right) in each observed period will be done, together with position and location of houses and infrastructure and changes in observed period. This will all served in creation of GIS and photo documentation database of endangered riverbanks, analyse environmental impact and consequences of the bank erosion intensification (loss of arable land, land use changes, dislocation of houses, possible displacement etc.),
- Surveys, interviews and focus groups with local population
- GIS software (QGIS, Geomedia professional GIS, etc.)
- Drones (AUV) for monitoring