Chairmen resign

Irrigation: turmoil over membership lists in Gols

Matthias Allacher doesn't see why he should keep lists of members. He is a farmer and not an office worker, he says angrily.(Bild: Charlotte Titz)

Water abstraction for farmers in the district of Neusiedl is currently under scrutiny. This is causing displeasure among two cooperatives. 

Specifically, the district authority is demanding membership lists from the two Gols cooperatives for the past few years. If these are not provided, the chairman has been threatened with criminal proceedings.

"We don't have annual membership lists because they always change when someone sells or inherits a plot of land. Anyone who inherits or buys a piece of land is a compulsory member of the cooperative, appears in the land register and can therefore be called up by the district administration," said Matthias Allacher, chairman of the water cooperatives, and his deputy Paul Weiss.

The last time the cooperatives charged compulsory members was in 2021 for cleaning in the Gerichtswiese and Wiesenäcker areas. The cost of this: 1308 euros.

Now the members would have to be brought in for seven years. "That would be more than 9,000 euros," says Allacher angrily. "Who is going to cover these costs?" And further: "Since the compulsory members are entered in the land register, we don't think an annual membership list is necessary. This is excessive bureaucracy. That's not how it works, we are farmers, not bureaucrats." Both chairmen resigned so as not to be prosecuted, as no successors could be found, the board was dissolved.

Chairman of the water interest group tries to defuse the situation
Werner Falb-Meixner, Managing Chairman of the Water Interest Group, is trying to defuse the situation and stated that they are interested in reasonable discussions with the authorities. He also understands that the BH needs historical data to evaluate and recalculate the water withdrawals. The deadline for submitting this data was approved by the BH until the end of May.

District Governor Ulrike Zschech: "We have the statutory objective of securing groundwater resources in sensitive regions in the long term," she explains. The BH must therefore monitor. It has to check when and for how long which type of crop was irrigated. Zschech continues: "The law stipulates that cooperatives must keep a list of their members and keep it up to date at all times. This should be submitted annually with details of the members and notification of any changes."

Incidentally, if the cooperatives dissolve, each individual farmer must theoretically apply separately for water withdrawal.