Flood Control Act
Almost one year to the day after the devastating flood disaster along the river Elbe, Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin has presented a draft for an Act to improve preventive flood control. "We will give our rivers more room again; otherwise they will take it themselves", the Federal Environment Minister said, adding that it was essential to put an end to the practice of building residential areas and industrial facilities and estates in floodplains, as this would be asking for the next flood disaster with billions of Euros of damage. The draft Act was sent for comments to the Länder as well as to industrial associations and environmental groups yesterday.
The draft Act is based on the Five-Point Programme to improve preventive flood protection, adopted by the Federal Government on 15 September 2002, in the wake of the flood disaster. "Our aim was to design more effective strategies to combat the risk of flooding. The Flood Protection Act now being presented as a draft is the most important element in this strategy", said Trittin. The concept is to adapt by means of an Article Law the various legal provisions relevant to flood protection at federal level in such a way as to take into account aspects of flood prevention. Amendments will be made to the Federal Water Act (WHG), the Federal Building Code (BauGB), the Federal Regional Planning Act (ROG), the Federal Waterway Act (WaStrG) and the Act on the German Meteorological Service (DWDG).
In future, there will be a nationwide requirement for the designation of flood zones on the basis of so-called "100-year flood levels". The Länder will be given a period of five years to designate these zones. A second category of "flood-prone zones" will be introduced and placed under protection. Such zones include areas flooded after dam failures. "The large number of dam failures along the rivers Elbe and Mulde have shown that dams and walls do not provide absolute protection", said Trittin. The Act will require the Länder to mark the flood zones and flood-prone zones in regional plans and urban development plans.
The Act will generally prohibit designation of housing developments and industrial estates in flood zones. "There will be quite a few complaints about that. But it is now time to finally draw the lessons from the flood disasters of the last few years, rather than merely paying lip service", the Federal Environment Minister emphasised, pointing out that less than a year after the great flood, a number of municipalities were already planning new housing developments in river plains again.
Agricultural land use, too, will be governed by the needs of flood prevention. The Act requires all agricultural activity to be stopped in flood zones by the end of 2012. "Agriculture in flood zones increases especially the risk of erosion and thus of pollutant inputs during flood events", Trittin pointed out, adding that nobody wanted to harm farmers' interests, but that grassland farming was the first priority in flood zones.
The Federal Water Act will be amended to include a requirement for individuals to keep potential damage as low as possible. "In flood zones, computing centres, for example, should not be located in the basement", said the Federal Environment Minister. Likewise oil-fired heating systems will in future be banned in flood zones while existing ones will have to be upgraded. The Länder will be required to establish river-based flood control plans and coordinate them at international level. They will also be obliged to create retention zones for the floodwater, build dams, retain stormwater and preserve or restore floodplains.
Operations for the maintenance and the development of rivers and canals will in future have to be carried out without affecting the risk of flooding. And the German Meteorological Service is to play a more important role in preventive flood protection, in order to give relief services and the citizens concerned more time to seal house entrances and clear cellars and houses.
This is an ambitious concept for improving preventive flood protection; it imposes tangible restrictions on those affected", Trittin said, adding that anything else would amount to misinformation and to giving people a false sense of security where nobody can guarantee it any longer. "Whoever still wants to build in a flood zone has not understood a thing and cannot expect our society to help him out when the damage is done", the Federal Environment Minister emphasised.
Note: The draft Flood Protection Act can be obtained by contacting 01888/305-2010.