Flood protection - Dyke restoration as a two-country project
Thuringia and Sachsen-Anhalt aim to jointly repair a dike for flood protection on the River Helme at their shared border. A corresponding agreement was signed on Friday between the Thuringian Ministry for Environment, Mining and Nature Protection and the Landesbetrieb for Flood Control and Water Management in Sachsen-Anhalt. The dike was breached during a flood at the end of 2023, preventing the flooding of towns in Thuringia. Thuringia will bear the costs for the dike repair, while Sachsen-Anhalt will handle the implementation.
What had begun in close coordination between the responsible authorities in Thuringia and Sachsen-Anhalt during the winter flood of 2023 is now being continued. At the time, the focus was on protecting the communities of Mönchpfiffel-Nikolausrieth and Heygendorf in northern Thuringia.
Costs for dike repair still open
Plans call for restoring the breach site according to the latest technology. Temporarily, the dike had been sealed off with so-called flood barriers, which are now to be removed. "Definitive cost statements cannot be made at the moment, as these will only be determined during the planning and bidding process," the two authorities stated. The construction start is planned for October 2024.
When the flooding of Thuringian communities threatened at the end of 2023, the mayors of Mansfeld-Südharz (Sachsen-Anhalt) and the Thuringian Kyffhäuserkreis, along with the authorities, decided that the dike Katharinenrieth on the Sachsen-Anhalt side of the community of Mönchpfiffel-Nikolausrieth would be opened by experts. The water was then channelled controlledly into the Rieth and over the agricultural lands.
For the Helme, a cross-state flood protection concept should now be developed. The Helme is an 81-kilometer-long tributary that springs in Thuringia, flows through Sachsen-Anhalt, and empties into the Unstrut in Thuringia.
Thuringia has already organized compensation for the farmers whose fields were used to divert the floodwater. Two million Euros from the state budget go to the farmers. Around 80% of the money goes to the farms of a farmer who was affected the most.
- The dike repair project, initiated after a breach on the River Helme's border between Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia during a flood in late 2023, involves not only Thuringia but also its neighboring state for flood protection purposes.
- The agreement signed between the Thuringian Ministry for Environment and the Landesbetrieb for Flood Control and Water Management in Saxony-Anhalt emphasizes the importance of cross-border cooperation in enhancing flood protection systems.
- With the completion of the flood protection project in Saxony-Anhalt, the focus will shift to developing a comprehensive flood protection concept for the entire Helme river, which spans both Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt.
