Legislation and Responsibilities, Measures and Constructions
Coastal and Flood Protection in Germany
Legal foundations for coastal and flood protection in Germany are governed at both federal and state level. In addition European directives and policies must be considered and obeyed.
At the European level the following directives must be taken into account:
At the European level the following directives must be taken into account:
- Water Framework Directive
- EU Floods Directive - Directive on the assessment and management of flood risk
- Overview (Source: NLWKN, in German)
- Flood Risk Management (Source: Federal Environment Ministry BMU, Federal Environment Agency UBA)
- Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive
At the national level the following laws regulate flood protection:
- Federal Water Resources Act (WHG)
- On the Web Portal of the BMU: Link
- Legal Text
- Flood Control Legislation - Act to Improve Preventive Flood Control (HWSG I, BMU)
- Flood control legislation II - Act to further improve preventive flood control and simplify flood protection procedures (HWSG II, BMU)
- etc.
Since coastal and flood protection in Germany are subjected to the sovereignty of the federal states, it is regulated by indivual state water acts, having their legal basis in the federal legislation and the European directives and framework. In the following, the state water act of the 5 federal coastal states are listed (all in German):
- Bremen: Bremische Wassergesetz
- Hamburg: Hamburgische Wassergesetz
- Mecklenburg - Western Pommerania: Wassergesetz des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns
- Lower Saxony: Niedersächsische Wassergesetz
- Schleswig-Holstein: Landeswassergesetz
Since coastal and flood protection are sovereign task of the federal states, water authorities of the respective coastal federal states are in charge. They are responsible for the implementationof the Federal Water Resources Act (WHHG), the individual federal state water acts and legal ordinances issued on the basis of these laws. Thus, they also implement the regulations of the EU directives and frameworks.
Depending on the federal state, the structure of the water authorities are organized in 2 or 3 levels. In general, the following water authorities are distinuished:
Depending on the federal state, the structure of the water authorities are organized in 2 or 3 levels. In general, the following water authorities are distinuished:
- Supreme water authority (generally, ministries of the environment of the federal states)
- Upper water authority (generally, state offices and state governements)
- Lower water authority (generally, county administrations and administrations of independent cities
In the 5 coastal federal state the organisation of the water authorities are as follows:
- Bremen: Supreme/Upper water authority - Senator for Climate Protection, Environment, Mobility, Urban Development and Housing of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Lower water authority - ???
- Hamburg: Supreme/Upper water authority - Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Department for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture (BUKEA), Lower water authority - District Offices
- Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania: Supreme water authority - Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania, Upper water authority - State Office for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Geology (LUNG), Lower water authorities - State Offices for Agriculture and the Environment, counties and independent cities
- Lower Saxony: Supreme/Upper water authority - Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate Protection, Lower water authorities - Counties, Area of Hannover, independent cities and labour inspectorate, technical authority for coastal protection - Lower Saxony State Agency for Water Management, Coastal and Nature Conservation
- Schleswig-Holstein: Supreme water authority and supreme coastal protection authority - Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization, Upper water authority - State Office for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Areas, Lower water authorities - district administrators, mayors of the independent cities, Lower coastal protection authority - State Agency for Coastal Protection, National Park and Marine Conservation