Flood hazard causes and flood protection recommendations for Belgian river basins

The two recent disastrous floods of the river Meuse of December 1993 and January 1995 initiated a thorough discussion about the different aspects of flood protection in Belgium. For helping decision makers in improving the national flood protection policies, an interdisciplinary group of experts was established with members belonging to the academic and the administrative communities. The goal of the group was to formulate the major causes of the disastrous floods and to propose solutions to reduce their disastrous impact. The solutions should address the management and planning of water resources, land and infrastructure, including the administrative organization and legislation of water resources related issues and the priorities for further research. The product of the expert consultation was a set of recommendations proposing a modification of the country flood protection policy. The major recommendations are summarised in the present paper.