Rhineland-Palatinate launches seven-point plan for better flood protection

Rhineland-Palatinate launches seven-point plan for better flood protection

Rhineland-Palatinate has responded to the devastating flood disaster in the Ahr Valley and developed a comprehensive seven-point plan for flood protection. How n-tv reports, Environment Minister Katrin Eder (Greens) presented the new plans for flood prevention in Mainz today. On the night of July 14th to 15th, 2021, 136 people in Rhineland-Palatinate and 49 in North Rhine-Westphalia were killed in this accident. Thousands of houses were destroyed and infrastructure such as roads and bridges were partially lost.

The flood disaster had numerous impacts that required a quick and targeted response. All flood protection and flood prevention systems had to be reviewed so that future disasters could be better predicted and avoided. The seven-point plan represents a milestone that is based on the findings from the disaster and further develops existing concepts.

Contents of the seven-point plan

The planned catalog of measures includes essential points for flood protection. Key points include:

• Weiterentwicklung der Hochwassergefahren- und Risikokarten.
• Verbesserung der Risikokommunikation und Hochwassermeldedienste.
• Bildung von Hochwasserpartnerschaften zur gemeinsamen Hochwasservorsorge.
• Fachberatung Wasserwehr und Schulung der Katastrophenschutzstäbe.
• Verbesserung des Pegelmessnetzes und kommunale Warnpegel.
• Berücksichtigung von Hochwasser- und Starkregengefährdung in der Bauleitplanung.
• Bewertung des Hochwasserrisikos für menschliche Gesundheit, wirtschaftliche Tätigkeit, Umwelt und Kulturerbe.

These measures are not only important for the Ahrkreis. The minister emphasized the need for cooperation between politics, administration, business, science and society in order to sustainably improve the quality of life and security of the people in the region. Rebuilding after the disaster will take years.

Ongoing measures and investments

Since the 1990s, around 1.2 billion euros have been invested in flood protection systems and water retention. The flood prevention plan will be updated and developed across municipal and district boundaries. This also includes the introduction of a state-of-the-art flood reporting service for large bodies of water as well as a nationwide, unique early warning for smaller bodies of water, such as mkuem.rlp.de highlights.

In addition, the Competence Center for Flood Prevention and Flood Risk Management (KHH) was founded in 2018. Steps have already been taken to improve funding opportunities for water retention and flood protection measures. In the meantime, 276 building applications and preliminary inquiries have been processed, with an average processing time of just 1.5 weeks.

Katrin Eder made it clear that despite extensive precautionary measures, absolute safety cannot be guaranteed. Nevertheless, the new initiatives and the seven-point plan are an important step towards establishing innovative concepts for flood protection in Rhineland-Palatinate.