It’s the same thing every year: when spring starts snow melts and the risk of flooding increases. Floods are natural occurrences but cost millions in damages as well as human life. The main reason for this is that the best protective measures are often neglected—and that is timely prevention. The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has issued a 47-page free brochure Was Sie über vorsorgenden Hochwasserschutz wissen sollten [What you should know about preventive flood protection] with information on how floods are caused as well as how their negative consequences for man and the environment can be contained or even avoided.
Floods are a natural occurrence in a river’s seasonal flow regime, but we humans do exert our influence upon it. Designing our own environment has an impact on the incidence and progression of floods. There is a concentration of property in regions that formerly acted as flood plains. When floods hit these settlements or industrial areas, they can do great damage.
The Federal Flood Protection Act entered into force in May 2005. It contains many new binding requirements, e.g. stipulating that the Laender must designate flood plains. Adoption and implementation of the federal legislation at the Laender level requires the support of the affected citizenry.
In its brochure the UBA would like to impart basic knowledge about how floods occur, what everyone can do to prevent floods, and to explain the new regulations contained in the Flood Protection Act. The brochure also illustrates the challenges that lie ahead, for example the impact of climate change on the likelihood of flood incidents. Despite the new laws and previous flood protection measures taken by the federal government and the Laender and municipalities, the risks still remain. It is therefore up to every individual to do his bit to protect his person and property. In addition to improved risk communication, there will also in future be economic instruments such as obligatory storm and tempest insurance that will aid in these efforts.
The brochure Was Sie über vorsorgenden Hochwasserschutz wissen sollten [What you should know about preventive flood protection] can be downloaded from the Internet at http://www.umweltdaten.de/publikationen/fpdf-l/3019.pdf. It will soon also be available free of charge from the Federal Environment Agency, Central Services Division, P.O. Box 1406, 06813 Dessau (post card) or by sending an e-mail to info@umweltbundesamt.de.
Dessau, 21 March 2006