Floodplain evaluation matrix (FEM): An interdisciplinary method for evaluating river floodplains in the context of integrated flood risk management

Strengthening of non-structural measures for flood protection by enforcing natural retention processes on river floodplains not only is required by the EU Floods Directive but also implicates a variety of socio-economic conflicts related to the multipurpose use of floodplains. In order to ensure the achievement of multiple benefits of such non-structural measures in the most effective way, it is crucial to determine which floodplains are highly relevant for preservation and/or restoration not only concerning flood protection (hydrology/hydraulics) but also for ecological and sociological reasons. Therefore, the main objectives of this paper are to identify on different spatial scales those hydrological/hydraulic, ecological and sociological parameters that are important for an integrated evaluation of floodplain effectiveness. The results are finally assembled in the novel multidisciplinary floodplain evaluation matrix (FEM) serving as decision support for the relevant stakeholders and indicating where efforts of floodplain preservation/restoration should be spent first within an integrated flood risk management. At the end of this paper, an integrative evaluation on macro-scale level for the Austrian Kamp River is exemplarily presented. Detailed sectoral investigations of the hydrological and hydraulic parameters are further described in a case study of the Austrian Danube (see paper "Assessing the role of floodplains along the Austrian Danube for flood hazard reduction using the hydrological and hydraulic parameters of the FEM-method'').