Joint practices to support the torrent control structures management in geo-hydrological risk mitigation across borders

Geo-hydrological risk mitigation exceeds administrative borders and needs shared and coordinated actions to address climate change effects across borders. In vulnerable areas, such as North-Eastern Italy and Slovenia where torrents and rivers cross national boundaries, joint strategies are essential to improve watershed management, infrastructure safety, and human protection. This requires integrating diverse expertise through cooperation among cross-border authorities, stakeholders, and researchers to develop a shared management solution and a response to common challenges. Torrent control works have been strategically used for several decades to regulate sediment dynamics in mountain catchments, but few research studied how structures interact with erosion and deposition processes. Nowadays, multi-temporal High-Resolution Topography (HRT) and GIS technologies enable efficient analysis of sediment dynamics in fluvial systems and their evolving interactions with watershed control structures. To improve watershed management and prioritise maintenance, the Interreg ITA-SLO “TORRENT” project aims to define shared international standards for monitoring torrent control systems and evaluating their long-term performance. The results highlight how a shared database complemented by common tools such as the Maintenance Priority Index, advanced technology and standardised data collection protocols, strengthens watershed management challenges in Slovenia and Italy and provides a transferable strategic approach for other basins in neighbouring countries.

Acknowledgments

The TORRENT project is co-funded by the European Union under the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme.