Potential flood impact on natural and socioeconomic environment in Riga

Flood risk management is the process of data and information gathering, risk analysis and evaluation, appraisal of options, and making, implementing and reviewing decisions to reduce, control, accept or redistribute the flood risks. It is a continuous process of analysis, adjustment and adaptation of policies and actions taken to reduce the flood risk. Preventive measures and timely, reasonable flood risk prevention measures can help reduce the risk of floods and caused damages. In addition, protection against floods is primarily necessary for populated areas, especially when it comes to densely populated areas, since floods may affect a large number of citizens and their property thereby causing enormous material damage not only to the inhabitants of these territories but also to business infrastructure, respectively, it can result in significant material and socioeconomic losses. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the flood risk management theoretical and practical aspects, identify the potential impact of floods on natural and socioeconomic environment, as well as to show the usefulness of flood risk reduction measures. To reach this aim, the following tasks must be fulfilled: to give the definitions of flooding and flood risk and briefly characterise the flooding and flood risk in Latvia; to study and characterize the flood risk management legal and institutional aspects; to carry out an analytical overview of the flood risk assessment on right bank of the Daugava River in Riga; to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of flood risk prevention measures on the right bank of the Daugava in Riga