The three different mean sea level surface height scenarios (high, medium and low case) for the Baltic Sea released by the SEAREG project for Itä-Uusimaa are: high - a sea level rise of 70-75 cm, medium - a rise of 20-25 cm and low – a drop of 22-27 cm due to the dominating land uplift up to year 2100.
A high sea level combined with storm surges and long term rain fall is the most threatening possible situation for Itä-Uusimaa. The central parts of the cities Porvoo and Loviisa lie near water: a river runs through the city of Porvoo and Loviisa lies on Loviisa bay. The central parts of both cities are flood prone even today.
Many parts of the Itä-Uusimaa shoreline are elevated several meters above mean sea level and face no imminent threat of inundation. It is more important to take a closer look at future storm surge and flood risks. Local experts of Porvoo and Loviisa are concerned about a few houses that are at risk already in today’s floods and of contaminated industrial shores that can cause water quality problems. Sea level rise is taken into account in spatial planning in Itä-Uusimaa. New residential areas constructed near the shoreline are built with a safety margin of 2 to 2,5 meters. Though the guidance of planning appears strong in Itä-Uusimaa, minimum elevation guidelines for construction are still needed in Finland.
Since the sea level rise is regarded as a rather minor hazard in Itä-Uusimaa and the awareness and interest of local stakeholders is considerably high towards sea level rise, the vulnerability of the region can be considered quite low. Co-operation between local authorities is working well concerning today’s flooding, but regional scale co-operation could be enhanced. The motivation of local and regional experts to get better prepared seem positive. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has prepared a report on extensive flooding in Finland. (Virkki, Kallio & Orenius, 2005)
Many parts of the Itä-Uusimaa shoreline are elevated several meters above mean sea level and face no imminent threat of inundation. It is more important to take a closer look at future storm surge and flood risks. Local experts of Porvoo and Loviisa are concerned about a few houses that are at risk already in today’s floods and of contaminated industrial shores that can cause water quality problems. Sea level rise is taken into account in spatial planning in Itä-Uusimaa. New residential areas constructed near the shoreline are built with a safety margin of 2 to 2,5 meters. Though the guidance of planning appears strong in Itä-Uusimaa, minimum elevation guidelines for construction are still needed in Finland.
Since the sea level rise is regarded as a rather minor hazard in Itä-Uusimaa and the awareness and interest of local stakeholders is considerably high towards sea level rise, the vulnerability of the region can be considered quite low. Co-operation between local authorities is working well concerning today’s flooding, but regional scale co-operation could be enhanced. The motivation of local and regional experts to get better prepared seem positive. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has prepared a report on extensive flooding in Finland. (Virkki, Kallio & Orenius, 2005)
