Constant rain and cracks in dikes: The flood situation in Germany remains tense. After the Danube and Elbe floods in 2013, a lot of things should be improved with the “National Flood Protection Program”. Has too little been done?
Flooded places in Bavaria in 2013, the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley in 2021 – and even now the news about floods in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt or North Rhine-Westphalia continues. The federal and state governments launched the so-called “National Flood Protection Program” in 2013 in response to the floods.
For the first time, there was and is a nationwide list of supra-regional flood protection projects that were intended to give water more space in a controlled manner. These include, for example, dike relocations and so-called flood polders, i.e. natural retention areas that are usually surrounded by a dike and into which water can be discharged in a targeted and controlled manner during major flood events.
Many of the existing polders in Lower Saxony are currently at their limits.
“Municipalities have put in the work”
For Uwe Brandl, CSU politician and President of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, is in the interview with tagesschau.de stated: “A lot has really happened. The municipalities have worked incredibly hard since 2013 to professionally deal with the issue of flood protection and protection against heavy rain events.” But Brandl also says that flood protection is an ongoing task.
In addition, climate change appears to be progressing faster than measures against flooding are being implemented. Although one confirms long-term study by the Federal Institute of Hydrology from 2021, that the planned projects of the National Flood Protection Program are effective and that the water levels can be reduced.
Only 15 projects in the construction phase
The problem: Only 15 percent of the projects are in the construction phase, as shown tagesschau.de-The request from the Federal Environment Ministry says: “A large proportion of the measures are therefore still in the conception, planning or approval phase.” The CSU politician Brandl therefore says that faster procedures are needed and that many communities need financial support.
The financing of the national flood protection program is secured in the long term, as the Federal Environment Ministry announced when asked. After the 2013 flood, over 500 million euros were invested in supra-regional flood protection and “thus reducing the devastating damage caused by such events”. The use of the funds so far illustrates the importance of the program. 100 million euros have been made available annually for the national flood protection program until 2023, and 50 million euros are planned for 2024.
Areas of contention
Money is one thing – a shortage of skilled workers in construction companies and supply bottlenecks of materials are another in order to implement flood protection projects. According to the Federal Environment Ministry, the biggest sticking point is that the measures require large areas to be implemented. It involves questions of ownership, land acquisition and compensation in order to preserve appropriate areas that could, for example, be used as flood polders and floodplains.
But spaces are not only highly competitive – people associate them with emotions, worries and fears. Debates flare up with potential flood polders. While there are polder supporters on the one hand, others oppose it. They fear that the drinking water supply in their own town will collapse in the event of a flood.
New “Natural Hazards Portal”
Projects for improved flood protection take time – but climate change with extreme weather is not waiting for it. Information on natural hazards should now come faster than dike relocations or flood polders: from summer 2024 with the so-called “natural hazard portal” of the German Weather Service (DWD). The Federal Cabinet initiated this in December.
“When there is heavy rain, citizens not only find information about the amount of rain, but also about the consequences at their place of residence, for example flooding or flooding,” says DWD spokeswoman Teresa Grimm tagesschau.de-Interview. The portal is a response to the 2021 flood disaster in the Ahr Valley.