Sometimes it fails

Giving rivers more space for flood protection

Even though the survey by the Lower Austrian Association of Municipalities was carried out during the floods, it comes as no surprise that three quarters of Lower Austrians are in favor of giving rivers more space for flood events due to the increasing inclement weather. However, landowners do not always agree.

 If you include the 70 percent who, when asked about the importance of sustainability at municipal level, were in favor of it, as well as the 60 percent who even voted for additional investment in this area, there should have been no objection when the EU voted for a renaturation law this year.

Owners often refuse to cede their land
However, Florian thinking is also likely to play a not insignificant role here: Because only 31 percent of the compatriots surveyed would be in favor of - in order to create further expansion areas for rivers for the purpose of flood protection - interfering with land ownership rights here as well.

In this context, it is hardly surprising that intensive discussions are now continuing about the delay in dam renovation on the Perschling - as reported by the "Krone" newspaper: "The veto of landowners is also said to have contributed to the fact that nothing happened for many years with the necessary dam repair . . .