ᐅ Rainwater harvesting is an effective measure for flood prevention.

Hello – due to recent events – it should now be clear to everyone, especially after such massive flooding, that a main cause of these floods is the rapid runoff of rainwater caused by our extensive sealed surfaces! The most important measures that must now be implemented widely are: Break up your sealed surfaces – green your roofs and install grass pavers and rainwater management systems! Every rainwater system acts as a small retention basin. If only some narrow-minded planners and water supply and disposal authorities would consider this... Instead, they prefer to spend billions of public funds building retention basins and levees.

In the end, everything either flows into the sewer or into the groundwater, and when it rains as heavily as it does now, the only effective solution is to give rivers more space.

And where does the tap water come from?
Are you seriously suggesting that everyone should bury a small tank in their garden? Right next to the CO2 tank, so less CO2 is released into the environment?

The problem is, as Der Da writes: Natural river landscapes instead of straightened fast shipping waterways (nice word).

A f.... ship voyage is missing 🙂 The new spelling makes such words even nicer 🙂

There is some truth to that – clearly, the water pathways need to be addressed. However, when identifying a problem, it is fundamentally important to first determine the causes. Don’t worry, I’m not going to start a debate about global warming or similar issues – what is undisputed is that rainwater is flowing too quickly into sewers and rivers due to the enormous sealed surfaces, which are constantly increasing on a large scale. When water arrives with a delay, it causes less damage, and as we have recently seen, the flooding of cities often depends on just a few centimeters of water level. Please also consider heavy rain events caused by thunderstorms with intense downpours, where 80, 100, or more liters per square meter (approximately 2.6, 3.3, or more inches per square yard) can fall within a few hours – leading to sewer backups and flooding, among other issues. All of this is interconnected.

It simply does not make sense to invest huge efforts into building ever larger sewer systems and retention facilities before addressing the root causes. The economic damages are enormous – not only from major floods – see the relevant RIMAX and URBAS studies carried out by the environment and economic ministries. Small-scale measures to reduce sealed areas, when applied widely, have significant effects – see studies by Prof. Sieker. It’s not as if there is no positive evidence for this approach – and once again, the question arises of which method provides the greater benefit for the investment made. Here, the advantage is clearly proven in favor of more natural rainwater management.

Der Da schrieb:
It’s missing a f.... ship-ride 🙂 The new spelling rules make such words even better 🙂

The new one can go away!!! 😎

That only applies if I make a typo!

But back to the topic: Isn’t the problem, as always, the people themselves? Building so close to the river? Constantly expanding (and sealing) new areas, and here in our region, there is plenty of space, right by the Rhine. But then you can’t complain afterwards!
But I wash my hands of it: Here, all rainwater MUST infiltrate 🙄