Homemade flood (May 31, 2010)
“Just 13 years after the last flood of the century, the next flood of the century rushes through the Oder Valley, perhaps a result of man-made climate change.
First of all, our attention and our sympathy go to the protection of the people affected. But one must also be able to say that the increasingly frequent and difficult flood situations are also a result of the artificial narrowing of the Oder. The political insight “Let the rivers their space” has been fading away for 13 years. Not a single polder, perhaps apart from the tiny, already unused Staffelder Polder (8), has been opened to flooding on the Oder in Brandenburg since then. The politically responsible lacked the strength to politically enforce what was factually recognized as correct against resistance. There must be more floodplains on the Oder, on the central Oder, but also in Silesia.
In the Lower Oder Valley, the river still has the necessary space. Here it can spread out if necessary. The Lunow-Stolper Polder could also be used as a flood area again. The politicians in the state of Brandenburg only pay lip service to this. Only the Association of Friends of the German-Polish European National Park Unteres Odertal e. V. buys all available land there against the dogged resistance of the responsible authorities and converts arable land into grassland, a necessary prerequisite for a possible flooding. He does not receive any support or funding for this — actually a state task. The good intentions and announcements of the Brandenburg state government to give the Oder more space must finally be followed by action. The flood of the century in 2010 should also be a reminder of this. ”
Thomas Berg
CEO
