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Hydrologist Günter Blöschl, a pioneer of water engineering, has been awarded the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize, according to a statement by the Prize Committee on March 20, 2025.
Blöschl’s comprehensive database and analysis have revolutionised and deepened the global understanding of flood risk reduction and water resource management. All this has helped advance knowledge of flood risks under climate change on a global scale, as per the statement.
“Professor Günter Blöschl 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,” the Prize Committee of the Stockholm Water Prize said in its citation.
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 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, and he spent two years in Australia. He has worked alongside previous prize laureates, Taikan Oki and Andrea Rinaldo.
The Stockholm Water Prize is awarded by the Stockholm Water Foundation in cooperation with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Prize will be presented to Blöschl by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, official patron of the Prize, during World Water Week in Stockholm in August.