Regional climate change and adaptation: the Alps facing the challenge of changing water resources
EEA report no. 8/2009:
This report analyses the risks that climate change presents to the water supply of the Alps, together with quality, needs identification, constraints, opportunities, policy levers and options for adaptation. It extracts policy guidance on adaptation practice and aims to assist regional and local stakeholders in developing robust adaptation strategies.
The report contains six case studies that illustrate regional adaptation to key water resource issues resulting from climate change and other causes such as increased water use. In addition to detailed literature analysis for each region, the case studies included interviews with stakeholders who were directly involved in adaptation activities or had knowledge about them. The case studies addressed the Lavant valley and Vienna in Austria, the Valais in Switzerland, South Tyrol in Italy, the Savoy region in France and River Soča in Slovenia and Italy. They provide valuable insights into the forces that promote or obstruct adaptation and the measures that have proven successful.
The focus of the report is on water resources and related adaptation, rather than water-related extreme events like floods, avalanches, landslides or mudflows, which are already well covered by existing studies of climate change impacts in the Alps.