Laying in the southwest of Zhejing province on the Ou River the city Lishui is experiencing rapid urban development. Its 2030 development plan foresees even further expansion of urban areas. These developments put enormous pressure on urban water systems which are largely based on up- and downstream reservoirs. This study focused mainly on flood risk due to intensive rainfall and typhoons during the rainy season in early summer leading to river floods. Several adaptation measures were considered; grey infrastructure, ‘sponge city’ and green land construction, integrated watershed and urban management were identified as the measures bearing the higher potential for benefits. Non-engineering and management measures, e.g. natural ecological security protection or watershed and urban management measures, reduce construction cost significantly. Finally, the notion of applying a combination of several measures was confirmed again through this analysis.