Canoeists rebel against Isar driving ban: Court decides on lawsuit against regulation

Created: 05/10/2022Updated: 05/10/2022 18:33

By: Veronika Ahn-Tauchnitz, Claudia Schuri

Canoeing on the Isar has only been permitted at certain times in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district for the past three years.

The Bavarian Canoe Association, among others, has sued against this.

© RK

Seasonal driving bans, life jackets compulsory for children and an alcohol limit: strict rules have been in force on the Isar in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen for three years.

On the other hand, the canoe association has sued.

Negotiated yesterday.

Munich/Bad Tölz – For years, water sports enthusiasts and the authorities have been arguing about how many boaters and canoeists the Isar and its nature can tolerate.

Because the leisure pressure on the Isar was increasing, the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen issued a regulation with stricter rules for the use of the Isar in 2019.

It stipulates, for example, an alcohol limit of 0.5 per mille for boaters and life jackets for children up to the age of twelve.

In addition, the Isar may only be navigated with small watercraft such as canoes, kayaks, canoes or inflatable boats from June 1st to October 15th.

Only in the section from Bad Tölz to the Isar bridge near Schäftlarn is driving allowed until December 31st.

But:

Is the paddling ban for the winter months proportionate?

The Bavarian Administrative Court must now decide on this.

We fight for access to nature for everyone

Paddler Uwe Tschierschke

Because the Bavarian Canoe Association, the Bavarian Individual Paddler Association and several canoeists have sued against the regulation.

The parties to the dispute met in court in Munich yesterday.

"We are fighting for everyone's access to nature," explained Uwe Tschierschke, who has been paddling for 45 years.

"The regulation could be a dam burst." The water sports enthusiasts fear that other authorities will follow suit - and that there will also be more and more restrictions on other waters.

For example, the district of Munich also issued stricter rules a few months after the Tölzer.

However, the district decided against a seasonal driving ban – to the delight of the canoeists.

Canoeists are very close to nature, emphasized Stefan Schmidt, who is responsible for the Environment and Waters department at the Bavarian Canoe Association.

"We also bring young people closer to nature." He argued that there was insufficient evidence that canoeing was harmful to nature.

“There is no scientific evidence for this,” he says.

Authorities fear damaging effects on nature

Oberlandesanwalt Martin Höfler, who represented the authorities in court, saw things differently.

"There are factors that create the risk that boating will have a detrimental effect on fish and bird populations," he explained.

In addition, there are sufficient alternative waters where you can continue paddling in winter.

Schmidt contradicted this: "Most of the other bodies of water are only of small size or have little water and are therefore only suitable for sports to a limited extent."

The Tölz District Administrator Josef Niedermaier, on the other hand, has little sympathy for the complaints of the canoeists.

He says that water sports enthusiasts have even been accommodated when it comes to setting the access times.

Because if one had strictly observed the spawning and breeding times of the animals, the closure times would have to be even longer.

From Niedermaier's point of view, the ordinance has done the Isar good.

The process ended yesterday.

The Bavarian Administrative Court will deliver its verdict to those involved in the next few weeks.