HIGH WATER AND FLOODING IN 2022

Abstract

After a period of pronounced hydrological drought, which had already begun in July 2021, as many as three major flooding events followed between September and December 2022. The first covered the Poljanska Sora, Ljubljanica and Kolpa basins in mid-September. The worst was at Poljanska Sora in Žiri; its highest discharge was estimated at a return period of 20-50 years. Return periods of discharge between 10 and 20 years were achieved in the Kolpa River basin, and between 5 and 10 years in the Ljubljanica basin. The second flood event followed after only two weeks. It once again covered the Ljubljanica and Kolpa River basins, but additionally also the Krka River basin. In the second event, flow return periods of 5-10 years were seen. The third flood event followed in December. Rivers in the Ljubljani­ca, Kolpa and Krka river basins flooded again, and for the first time this year, the rivers in the Vipava River basin were included. In the December flood event, the return periods of peak discharges were estimated to be 2-10 years. In No­vember, the sea also flooded to a greater extent, reaching 365 cm, the fifth-highest water level in the historical record.