A task force charged with developing an emergency plan for dealing with floods presented a set of measures to be implemented in the short and medium term.

The government decided to earmark 37 million euros for damage that may be caused by floods next year. 17 million will be available for emergency measures and 25 million for regular maintenance works. The plan calls for construction works on the Mura, the Drava, the Savinja, the Sava and the Soča, i.e. the rivers worst affected by this year's flooding. Moreover, maintenance works to improve the water flow will be launched.

Focus on flood prevention
State secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning Tanja Bogataj said at the presentation of the plan that on-site emergency measures would be given top priority in order to mitigate the subsequent damage that may be caused. She added that the measures would be finalized within six months and that the money allocated was barely sufficient to fund clean-up and maintenance efforts.

Comprehensive flood prevention program needed
Slovenian national Floods Directive implementation coordinator Luka Štravs noted that the same amount of money would have to be earmarked for flood defence in 2016 and 2017. He added that in the long run, a lot more money needed to be invested in a comprehensive flood prevention program, and that a long-term solution would cost around 600 million euros. Moreover, the entire flood management program needed to be better staffed and funded.

Gregor Cerar; translated by D.V.