Mainstreaming adaptation in water management for flood protection in Isola Vicentina

Isola Vicentina (Veneto, Italy) faces both rare but damaging main-river floods (Orolo and Timonchio rivers, last major event 2010) and frequent, cumulatively damaging pluvial flooding from its local drainage network. Regional climate models point to less frequent but more intense precipitation, increasing future flood risk.

The municipality's Municipal Water Management Plan (MWMP), developed after signing the EU Mayors Adapt initiative in 2014, aims to go beyond standard drainage coordination and become a local flood-adaptation plan combining prevention, protection and preparedness, designed against return periods up to 1-in-300 years.

The plan combined official hydrogeological maps, historical-event data from local authorities, and citizen consultation to identify over 20 critical drainage areas, then defined about 50 protection measures (retention areas, ditch works, drainage upgrades), plus prevention measures (woodland preservation, a 10-hectare pilot reforestation area) and preparedness measures (citizen flood booklets, four public workshops).

The MWMP itself cost EUR 25,000 to prepare; structural protection measures were estimated at roughly EUR 2 million (1-in-50-year protection) to EUR 4 million (1-in-100-year protection). A one-million-cubic-metre water retention area on the Orolo River was under construction with regional funding at the time of writing.

Success relied on strong mayoral commitment, IUAV University scientific support, and citizen input. Implementation was constrained by the plan being run by a single municipality without formal coordination with upstream/downstream neighbours, and by unresolved questions over which stakeholder (farmers, homeowners, water companies) is responsible for which part of the drainage system.