**3. Effects on flooding on crops and restoration of flood damage**

In the period from 22th May to 2nd June 1995, large part of central eastern Norway was hit by a severe flood, in media called a catastrophic flood. In the period from 22th to 25th May, the temperature rose by 5–10°C causing enormous snowmelt in the mountainous region. It was estimated that 4000 million m3 snow melted during the period from 25th to 2nd June, which is equivalent to 100 mm precipitation distributed over the whole watershed. In addition, 50–70 mm precipitation as rain hit the central part of the watershed during the days from 28th May to 1st June. This caused a large flood in the rivers Glomma in Østerdalen and the river Gudbrandsdalslågen in Gudbrandsdalen. The maximum observed discharge in Glomma was close to 3100 m3 s−1 at Elverum [4].

During the 1995 flood, about 14,000 hectares agricultural land was flooded, of which about 10,000 hectares along Glomma river in Østerdalen. It has been estimated that 2 million m3 was eroded by the flood, while the amount of sediments overlying soils constituted of at least 1 million m3 . About 1000 hectares was seriously damaged either by erosion or sedimentation and could not be used without restoration measures [4].
