For Prime Minister Gordon Schnieder (CDU), the necessary investments in better flood protection are a joint task between the states and the federal government. “Long-term and reliable financing is not possible without the participation of the federal government,” said the State Chancellery in Mainz. The aim is to consistently develop flood protection and to advance sensible measures together.
Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz had previously rejected the requested financing of flood retention basins from the development aid fund. The Chancellor informed the district administrator of the Ahrweiler district, Cornelia Weigand, about this in a letter on July 30, as a government spokesman said. The SWR and the Rhein-Zeitung had previously reported.
The “terrible images, the losses and the damage from the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley” are still present to the Chancellor, said the government spokesman. The federal and state governments had therefore provided “significant resources” with the special fund set up to repair the damage caused and to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure.
“However, this does not include any new construction measures such as the planned retention basin,” the spokesman said. A subsequent adjustment of the legal basis is not planned.
District is reviewing procedures
The initiative came jointly from the Rhineland-Palatinate districts of Ahrweiler and Vulkaneifel as well as the Euskirchen district from North Rhine-Westphalia. After the rejection, the Ahrweiler district will examine how to proceed. Because of its special importance for the region, the letter is currently being evaluated, according to the district administration. District Administrator Weigand is in contact with her counterparts Julia Gieseking from the Vulkaneifel and Markus Ramers from Euskirchen as well as with the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Weigand disappointed
Weigand was disappointed with the letter. “I would have liked a personal exchange on the fifth anniversary of the flood disaster or at another time,” she explained. She was all the more surprised and disappointed that the Chancellor's letter reached her while she was on vacation. “We are currently examining what our next steps in this matter might look like,” said Weigand.
“We need more protection for extreme events,” Weigand said shortly before the fifth anniversary of the Ahr Valley flood in July. In the so-called supra-local action plan, 17 basin locations in the Ahr catchment area and one basin location in the district that affects another body of water were identified. Three locations were therefore prioritized. The old state government promised start-up financing for the planning, said Weigand.
“We are talking about estimated costs of around 1.5 to 2 billion euros if we are allowed to build all the pools,” Weigand said. The hope at the time that the development aid fund would be opened up for this purpose has now been clearly set back.
Merz refers to other means
In his letter, Merz also pointed out that flood protection, as part of disaster control, falls within the constitutional responsibility of the states, the Chancellery said. The federal government supports the states in their measures in this area. As an example, the spokesman cited “the joint task “Improvement of the agricultural structure and coastal protection” (GAK)”, in which the federal government contributes 60 percent of the eligible expenditure on preventative flood protection in rural areas.
He also referred to funds from urban development funding or funds under the state and local government infrastructure financing law. The latter would be available to the states and their municipalities flexibly for investments in their infrastructure.
