National Council wants to better protect the Rhine Valley from flooding
Published: Thursday, Sep 26th 2024, 16:20
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The National Council wants to improve flood protection on the section of the Rhine along the border with Austria. It voted in favor of a corresponding bill on Thursday.
The large chamber had to decide on three decrees. The new Federal Act on the Improvement of Flood Protection on the Rhine from the Mouth of the Ill River to Lake Constance (Alpine Rhine Act) was adopted by 165 votes to 19 with five abstentions and the associated credit commitment by 167 votes to 17 with six abstentions.
The National Council approved the new, fourth state treaty on flood protection on the Alpine Rhine by 166 votes to 17 with seven abstentions. The Council of States must now deal with the matter.
The border section is a total of 26 kilometers long and stretches from the mouth of the river Ill below Feldkirch (A) to Lake Constance.
According to the Federal Council, implementation of the project is expected to last until 2052, with the aim of protecting the lower Rhine Valley from flooding and enhancing it as a living and economic area.
Specifically, the plan is to increase the discharge capacity of the Alpine Rhine from the current 3100 to 4300 cubic meters of water per second and to renovate the ageing flood dams.
While the current protective structures protect against 100-year floods, the Federal Council wrote in May that the increase in discharge could also cope with very large floods, which occur on average every 300 years. According to federal calculations, property damage amounting to over 13 billion Swiss francs could be avoided in this way.
The costs on the Swiss side amount to a good one billion Swiss francs, spread over a period of 27 years. 80 percent will be borne by the federal government and 20 percent by the canton of St. Gallen.
The National Council's Environment Committee unanimously supported the project. It only made changes to the Federal Council's draft in a few minor points. Environment Minister Albert Rösti declared his agreement with these in the debate.
The only criticism came from the SVP, which nevertheless supported the proposal by a majority. Manuel Strupler (SVP/TG) was bothered by the fact that a large-scale renaturation project at the expense of agricultural land was also part of the project.
©Keystone/SDA
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