Post a comment on the text below

Flood protection structures play a key role in this context. Flood events are one of the most common and most dangerous natural hazards affecting European society with almost 3 700 flood events having occurred in Europe between 1980 and 2015 (EEA, 2016). Since decades, European countries have taken flood protection measures that mostly involve conventional engineering flood protection structures to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of floods. At the same time, flood protection structures and measures (such as levees, retention basins, channel straightening, removal of vegetation and sediment) are among the main causes for hydromorphological alteration and ecological impairment of rivers, in particular by disconnecting river channels from the floodplains and modifying riparian zones.