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Hydrologist Günter Blöschl receives Stockholm Water Prize 2025

Professor Blöschl is a pioneer of water engineering. His comprehensive database and analysis have revolutionized and deepened the global understanding of flood risk reduction and water resource management. His contributions make him the founder of the new and growing scientific field, regional process hydrology, and cofounder of sociohydrology, both of which advance our knowledge of flood risks under climate change on a global scale.

Professor Blöschl has contributed to global research on flood estimation, scaling, and adaptation strategies. His work has proven that a more subtle, context specific solution is needed, as flood patterns, scaling, and adaptation are much more complex than previously known. His meticulous research led to the construction of a flood database that analyzed the patterns and scales of flood movements over the span of 500 years.

“With his ground-breaking research, Professor Blöschl has made invaluable contributions to our understanding of flood risk reduction and sustainable water resource management. In the face of a changing climate, this knowledge is more important than ever.”

Anette Scheibe Lorentzi, Chair, Stockholm Water Foundation

His published work brought to light the significant impacts of climate change, land use, and hydraulic structures in the causation of flooding. In particular, he was able to show that urbanization, deforestation, and agricultural practices impact smaller floods in a greater way than larger floods.

In its citation, The Prize Committe for the Stockholm Water Prize said: “Professor Günter Blöschl at the Technical University of Vienna (TUW) is the world’s leading flood hydrologist. He has made groundbreaking contributions to understanding the drivers of increasing flood risks under climate change coupled to the strong influence of regional flood processes. His observation-based connection between climate and floods revealed that the last two decades have been markedly flood-prone compared to the historical record.” 

On winning the Stockholm Water Prize, Professor Blöschl states: “Wow, this is such an honour. It really makes me think about how lucky I am to be working with such brilliant people.” He has worked alongside previous prize laureates, Taikan Oki and Andrea Rinaldo.

Anette Scheibe Lorentzi, Chair of SWF states: “With his ground-breaking research, Professor Blöschl has made invaluable contributions to our understanding of flood risk reduction and sustainable water resource management. In the face of a changing climate, this knowledge is more important than ever, and I congratulate Professor Blöschl on being awarded the Stockholm Water Prize 2025.”

About the Laureate

Günter Blöschl is a professor at the Vienna University of Technology, the current head of the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management at the Vienna University of Technology, as well as the Director of the Doctoral Programme of Water Resources Systems at the Vienna University of Technology, that he founded more than 15 years ago, and a part time professor at the University of Bologna. He grew up in Vienna, where he currently lives with his family, three children and four grandchildren. His research took him to many international locations, including the US and Canada, with two years in Australia. He enjoys being a citizen of the world, in particular working with people, gaining new international perspectives on scientific and societal issues, and believes that there is immense value in sharing perspectives and aims across disciplines and sectors of society.