The purpose of the project:
Due to climate change, more frequent and intense floods are placing an increasing strain on our flood protection dikes, threatening to flood the areas and settlements on the protected side. Therefore, it has become essential to examine the flood protection dikes of joint Hungarian-Croatian interest along the Drava River, which were built more than fifty years ago and have only been reinforced in places in the meantime. The aim of the jointly submitted project is the non-destructive geophysical examination of the section between Osijek and Drávasztára and its evaluation, the runoff modeling of the lowest Hungarian-Croatian flood protection area, and the design of controlled water outlets in order to reduce drought on the protected side during floods.
Main goals:
Flood risk reduction
Protection of population and infrastructure
Protection of NATURA 2000 habitats
Developing sustainable water retention solutions
Strengthening cross-border cooperatin
Lead beneficiary: South-transdanubian Water Management Directorate
Beneficiaries: South-transdanubian Water Management Directorate
Croatian waters
EU contribution (total): 1118 125,61 EUR
EU contribution (project part of DDVIZIG): 825460,57 EUR
Start of the project: 01.01.2026
End of the project: 31.12.2027
Introduction of the project:
Within the framework of the Hungarian-Croatian Interreg project DRAVADIKE & CLIMATE CHANGE, the Hungarian and Croatian partners are jointly investigating the flood protection dikes between Osijek and Drávasztára, which is of common interest and protects the Hungarian and Croatian territories from the floods of the Drava. The investigations are carried out with non-destructive geophysical investigations, supplemented by destructive, so-called drilling investigations. The processing and analysis of the measurement results provide the points and sections that are more likely to fail during a flood, and which therefore need to be given even greater emphasis during flood protection works.
The results obtained will not only be directly useful for flood protection. In the process of flood preparedness, it is also essential to include these data in the protection plan, which we will also carry out together with the Croatian partner. The results obtained will also form a good basis for future planning of necessary developments and for justifying their necessity.
The most important task of flood protection is to keep the river between the dikes. Due to climate change in recent years, receding floods have demonstrably become more frequent and pose an increasing burden. In case of a possible embankment failure, the flood water will reach the protected areas, thereby endangering the population, settlements, infrastructure, and our values. Within the framework of the project, we are going to examine the flow conditions of the lowest floodplain, separated by the Hungarian-Croatian border, together with the Croatian partner, in order to minimize the damage in case of a possible dike failure.
Climate change is not only associated with more frequent floods, but also with droughts in coastal areas. Directed water discharge to these areas must now be part of flood protection. However, this requires a design documentation that identifies and analyzes the places where water discharge is possible and necessary. This study is also included in the project, the result of which will be a plan that will include all the water discharge options in detail.
The project also pays attention to the training of our young people, as during the geophysical investigations, university students will have the opportunity to participate in the fieldwork and their processing. At the end of the program, an educational material will be prepared that can also be used in higher education for students interested in geophysics.
Last but not least, we would like to inform professionals and the population living in the area as widely as possible about the project, its goals and results. The goal: less flood damage, greater safety and a more livable area, sustainable water retention and ecological balance for the region.
This <document, product, event> has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Hungary-Croatia Programme. The content of the <document, product, event> is the sole responsibility of < Project Partner’s name> and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Unionand/or the Managing Authority of the Programme.