Theory and practice of flood prevention – A case study of the city of Kraljevo

Increasingly frequent floods, caused by altered climatic conditions, result significant material damage and loss of human life. The floods of May 2014 were the largest recorded in Serbia, affecting the territory of the city of Kraljevo, particularly the settlement of Grdica and the industrial zone of Šeovac. The damages from the floods impacted residential buildings, infrastructure, agriculture, business entities, and public facilities. Similar flood events, in terms of precipitation volumes and river water levels, also affected the Kraljevo area in 2023. Due to the frequent natural disasters impacting various parts of the territory, along with the extensive network of watercourses and intense climate changes, the city of Kraljevo has adopted an integrated approach to disaster risk reduction. The flood risk reduction system is governed by several legal regulations, primarily the Water Law and the Law on Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management. In compliance with these legal obligations, the city has adopted necessary planning documents, established institutional mechanisms, and properly equipped civil protection units. Additionally, continuous investments have been made in constructing new and reconstructing the existing infrastructure. A significant advancement in the city’s risk reduction system is the establishment of a civil protection system and inter-municipal cooperation among cities and municipalities in the West Morava River basin. It is important to measure the impact of investments in flood prevention to assess the justification and effectiveness of the resources used. The activities and measures implemented to reduce flood risk from 2014 to 2023 have shown positive results. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the effects of preventive activities and investments in the disaster risk reduction and emergency management system in the Kraljevo area during the specified period. The concluding considerations indicate that preventive investments in the flood risk reduction system and the construction of resilient and necessary protective infrastructure, lead to reduced damages and losses from floods.