KAHR - Scientific Monitoring of the Reconstruction Processes after the Flood Disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia: Impulses for Resilience and Climate Adaptation
Description and goals
The flood in July 2021 has led to an extreme impact on the Erft, Inde, Vichtbach, and Wupper rivers in North Rhine-Westphalia and on the Ahr in Rhineland-Palatinate. The project "KAHR - Climate Adaptation, Flood and Resilience", of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research accompanies the (re)construction process and makes a scientific contribution to improve flood risk management after the flood disaster to rebuild affected regions in a more resilient way. In selected focus areas, concrete flood protection and spatial planning measures will be evaluated in the course of reconstruction and affected stakeholders in the areas will be advised. The findings from the focus areas will subsequently be transferred to other affected or vulnerable areas. https://hochwasser-kahr.de/
https://www.fona.de/de/massnahmen/foerdermassnahmen/KAHR.php
The KAHR project aims to develop flood prevention and planning precautionary strategies in such an adaptive and risk-based way that they can be adapted to future changes in hazards, vulnerabilities, and risks, for example, due to climate change. In addition to the existing rigid probabilities of occurrence of flood events, extraordinary and improbable events should also be considered and brought to the attention of those affected and decision-makers. Differentiation of different probabilities of occurrence, the protection worthiness of individual buildings and infrastructures as well as the active involvement of disaster control are important components to develop sustainable flood prevention.
Key dates
Goals: Flood resilient reconstruction after the flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia in July 2021
Method: Hydro numerical model tests
Duration: 01/2022 – 01/2025
Partner: 14
Tasks of the IWW in the KAHR project
In the KAHR project, the IWW is responsible for testing the effectiveness of flood protection measures and the influence of various boundary conditions on and in the watercourse, such as the congestion of bridges and land-use changes, using hydro numerical simulations. Likewise, the IWW together with the Wasserverband (water board) Eifel-Rur is entrusted with the establishment and operation of the project office for NRW and acts as contact person, coordinator, and multiplier on site.
Partners and funding
The following partners are involved in the research project:
- Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management (RWTH Aachen)
- Institute of Spatial and Regional Planning (IREUS) (University of Stuttgart)
- Institute of Environmental Sciences and Geography (University of Potsdam)
- Koblenz University of Applied Sciences (HS-Ko)
- Department of Civil Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management (FWW) (Technische Universität Kaiserslautern)
- IQIB - Institute for Qualified Innovation Research and Consulting
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
- Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (GFZ)
- German Institute of Urban Affairs (DIFU)
- Flood Competence Center (HKC)
- Eifel-Rur Water Association (WVER)
- TU Dortmund University (TUDO)
- District of Ahrweiler (L-Ahr)
The joint project KAHR is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF under the funding code xxx by the project management organization Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., DLR for short.