Author(s): Giulia Evangelista; Pierluigi Claps

Linked Author(s): Claps Pierluigi

Keywords: No Keywords

Abstract: The assessment of climate change impacts on flood hazard in high-elevation Alpine basins is of growing relevance for the hydrological safety of large dams. Many of these structures were designed under the assumption of stationary hydrological conditions, yet warming temperatures have already altered snowfall–rainfall partitioning and seasonal runoff generation in mountain environments. The analytical framework presented by Evangelista et al. (2025) provides a parsimonious but physically consistent methodology to quantify how increases in air temperature may modify the magnitude of design floods in Alpine environment. Applying this methodology to approximately 200 basins, many of which closed by large dams in the Alps, offers a coherent and scalable approach to evaluate the potential non-stationarity of extreme inflows and to guide future dam-safety assessments.

DOI:

Year: 2026