Valley plans to significantly expand retention basins

Created: 07/02/2022, 07:00

Water masses in Darching in July 2021 (archive image).

© Thomas Gaulke

Against the background of the devastating damage caused by last year's heavy rain in Oberdarching, the municipality of Valley is now taking action.

Valley – "Flood protection enjoys the highest priority." This was emphasized by Mayor Bernhard Schäfer at his first town hall meeting, to which the municipality had invited in the Valley Sudhaus.

Not only since the major damage that the heavy rain caused in Oberdarching on July 26, 2021, the municipality has been trying to come up with a viable concept to be better protected against flooding.

It is currently necessary to clarify the last details for preventive measures before the planning can be passed on to the Rosenheim Water Management Office (WWA), Schäfer reported on the current status.

After the floods last summer, the municipality worked through the events with the fire brigade and civil protection and looked for solutions.

At the same time, concepts were developed on how to react quickly in the event of danger.

Flood protection products were inspected in Bergen.

On site in Valley, specialist manufacturer Beaver demonstrated how mobile systems such as sandbags or hose dams can be used to stop large volumes of water.

The concrete plan now is to expand the existing retention basin at Kaltenbach and to raise the walls by three metres.

This means that the capacity can be increased from 3,000 cubic meters to 25,000 cubic meters.

Since there was close contact with the water management authority in advance and the situation was discussed with a planning office during on-site visits, Schäfer is hoping for speedy approval and implementation, preferably as early as next year.

The creeks are currently being looked after and observed in consultation with the special purpose association.

The particularly affected Dorfbach in Oberdarching had been dredged.

"We keep an eye on the course of the stream so that we can react quickly if the pipes silt up," says Schäfer.

At the same time, he emphasized that the municipality was in demand.

At the same time, homeowners would also have to take precautions to protect their buildings.

Concrete proposals have been sent to all potentially affected households.

The citizens appealed to clear the stream more often or to lay it deeper.

"Our cellars cannot be the retention basin for Oberdarching".

Every time it rains, there is a fear of a new flood.

Without going into specifics, the problem was also addressed that some residents had squeezed the creek into a corset that was too tight, which meant that there was no more space for a lot of water.

For all new construction measures, Valley created a so-called integral flood protection and retention concept in order to be better prepared in the future.

"It will not be possible to prevent heavy rain, but we have to be prepared so that we can react as quickly as possible," said Schäfer.

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