St. Andrä-Wördern municipal council: Monitoring after extreme weather for water infrastructure

St. Andrä-Wördern municipal council: Monitoring after extreme weather for water infrastructure

In St. Andrä-Wördern, the FPÖ submitted an urgency application during the last council meeting to expand the agenda by an important topic. It is about the "monitoring and the evaluation of the water supply as well as wastewater disposal with regard to extreme weather events in summer 2024". This was necessary after extreme rainfall imposed major challenges for the community's water systems. The FPÖ calls for a profound analysis of the existing infrastructure in order to be better equipped for future scenarios.

Markus Kolar, a leading member of the FPÖ, emphasizes the urgency of this application. "Experience from the past must be used. We have to check our channel system and water promotion under extreme conditions," said Kolar. Particular attention is paid to whether the drinking water supply is endangered while such extreme weather conditions. Additional disinfection measures could be necessary, especially with regard to the black residues in the filter systems of Altenberg.

hygiene questions and evaluation process

The FPÖ sees the need to draw knowledge from extensive monitoring, which should serve the local council as the basis for important financial decisions. The topic of hygiene questionnaires - such as the harmlessness of drinking water quality in extreme weather conditions - is also to be evaluated. Kolar points out that improvements in existing fountain systems are necessary to ensure the quality of the water.

The oral statement by the mayor, Maximillian Titz from the ÖVP, suggests that some of these measures are already in the works. Titz explained that "everything that is in the application is already underway." In addition, no serious problems with the sewage system were found in the last flood events. The coordination with the municipality and the fire brigade successfully contributed to minimizing damage caused by flooding by preventing floods on streams.

financing and immediate measures

In the local council, several immediate measures were also decided to optimize the water and sewage infrastructure. For these measures, which cost a total of 313,000 euros, the municipality, the state of Lower Austria and the federal government have taken on a third of the costs. The work includes the evacuation of streams and security measures on the Hagenbach, which are essential for the region.

In addition, the citizen list submits an application to check the equipment plan of the local fire brigades. Dieter Gilnreiner pointed out that the need to buy further pumps for disaster aid was not considered to be penetrated in heavy rains and was rejected with the votes of the ÖVP and the Greens.