At the turn of the year, Oldenburg and other parts of Lower Saxony were affected by flooding. Geographer Ingo Mose on the need to act quickly now.
The floods that occurred in December on the Ems, Hunte, Weser and other rivers in northern Germany have now largely receded. However, the urgency of measures to protect against the destructive forces of water is no less great. On the contrary: as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has long predicted, heavy rainfall, flash floods and flooding will continue to increase. What needs to be done?
There is a growing realisation that technical flood protection measures such as straightening rivers and raising dykes - which have been common practice for centuries - are reaching their limits. Instead, the focus is shifting to ideas of natural flood protection.
Rivers must be given back their natural floodplains so that they can store water temporarily. Furthermore, renaturalisation measures are needed to promote natural water retention in the landscape and at the same time strengthen other ecosystem services, such as the habitat of animal and plant species. Finally, sealed surfaces in cities and urban centres need to be unsealed as far as possible and rainwater needs to be given more space to seep away - the keyword here is "sponge city".
These and other measures pose major challenges. There are competing interests from the housing industry and others for scarce land in cities, which need to be balanced. Farmers also need to be convinced if fields and pastures are to be designated as retention areas. The population as a whole must be sensitised to flood risks more than before. However, there is no alternative to sustainable flood prevention in the face of climate change. Action must be taken now!
The guest article by Prof Dr Ingo Mose is taken from the current issue of the university magazine UNI-INFO.
