The federal states have left around 40 percent of the federal funds available each year for investments in better protection against flood disasters. Of the 100 million euros in federal funds in the special framework plan “measures for preventive flood protection”, almost 59 million euros were used by the states last year, reports the “Rheinische Post”. It cites an overview from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for the responsible reporters in the Bundestag’s budget committee.
In previous years, the amount called up by the states was only between 54 and 60 million euros of the total 100 million euros available per year. The money from the special framework plan is said to be used to dismantle dikes in order to create more floodplains on the major rivers. Flood retention basins and polders are also to be built.
According to the report, federal states that are more frequently affected by flooding on rivers have also not made full use of the federal aid. For example, North Rhine-Westphalia, where the rising water level of the Rhine after heavy rainfall is often a cause for concern, only used 1.8 million euros of the 4.9 million euros last year. In the previous year, the federal state’s use of federal funds was less than ten percent.
The states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, which are currently affected by the floods, on the other hand, would have fully used up the federal funds available to them by 2023. According to the “Rheinische Post”, almost 23 million euros went to Bavaria and 17 million euros to Baden-Württemberg.
Bavaria, on the other hand, has problems with the construction of polders. More than two decades after the decision to build seven large flood polders to protect against extreme flooding, only two of the planned projects have been implemented. This was confirmed by the Ministry of the Environment in Munich upon request. The completion of all seven polders was planned by 2020, as can be read in a 2018 report.