Shortly before the end of the year, the Ministry of Agriculture approved 848 projects for water infrastructure. One of them is the flood protection in Schalchham, which is being built at a cost of 4.3 million euros. The municipality of Regau has been pushing this project since 2018, which is intended to defuse the danger at the confluence of the Vöckla and Ager.
Parts of Schalchham south of the Ager would be flooded in a 100-year flood. Regau wants to be prepared for this possible catastrophe with a large-scale flood protection project, at the same time a local recreation area is being revitalized and renatured.
The Vöcklabruck civil engineering office HIPI calculates, plans and is responsible for the large-scale project of the Regau municipality in coordination with the water district of Gmunden. The project will be carried out in two construction phases. At the beginning there is the clearing of trees in the silted-up side arm of the Ager, which is then dredged out two to three meters. As a result, this oxbow lake will be reactivated and will carry water permanently in the future. A protective wall and dams with a total length of 770 meters are being built along this tributary to protect the settlement area in the Schallermühle area from flooding. 434 people and 78 objects would currently be affected by flooding. In the second construction phase, a retention area will be created on the north bank of the Ager below Johannes-Kepler-Straße in the municipality of Vöcklabruck, where flood water can escape if necessary. This area is laid out ecologically so that fish or amphibians can find spawning grounds. The river course of the Vöckla and Ager itself will remain unaffected by the construction measures. “The project takes place with the greatest attention to people and nature,” explains Alexander Debene, a specialist in river engineering and flood protection at HIPI. “The island next to the Ager and the busy oxbow lake will be upgraded and will continue to be available as a local recreation area after construction.”
The trees are already being cleared. The construction period is estimated at two years, the total costs of 4.3 million euros will be shared between the federal government (81.4%) and the market town of Regau (18.60%).
Source: Nachrichten
