World Water Day on 22 March

Every year on 22 March, World Water Day is celebrated as a result of the 1992 UN World Conference on Environment and Development. The environmental department of the city of Chemnitz takes this as an opportunity to raise awareness of how to deal with watercourses.

The Würschnitz and Zwönitz rivers, which join to form the Chemnitz in Altchemnitz, and many larger and smaller streams flow through the city of Chemnitz. These streams and rivers fulfil important tasks for the ecosystem.

During water inspections by the Environment Agency, inappropriate bank protection measures using construction waste, rubble, concrete products, plastic sheeting, car tyres and other waste materials are regularly identified by waterway users.

The Lower Water Authority of the Environmental Agency of the City of Chemnitz would like to remind riparians in particular of the following:

Riparian strips are a prerequisite for the natural development of watercourses.
They provide the necessary space for the spread of important habitats for animals and plants and indicate the good ecological status of a watercourse. They also serve to store water and ensure water drainage. These riparian strips must therefore be kept free from other uses. The width of the riparian strips is defined by law and is 5 metres on each side of the bank in the inner area and 10 metres on the outer area.

It is prohibited within the riparian strip:

• Convert grassland,
• remove trees and shrubs that are native to the area,
• planting trees and shrubs that are not native to the area,
• to handle substances hazardous to water in this area,
• to use pesticides and fertilisers,
• deposit objects,
• construct buildings and other facilities (including access roads, paths, parking spaces, enclosures, storage areas, garden sheds and other shelters).

Deposited objects impair water quality and water runoff:
It is not permitted to deposit equipment, materials and waste on the banks of watercourses and within the riparian strips. This includes, for example, piles of wood, green waste, compost, but also building materials, play equipment, water barrels, garden tools, garden furniture, plastic sheeting and similar items. Deposits can become obstacles to drainage. In the event of flooding, there is a risk of it entering the watercourse and clogging bridges and culverts.

The dumping of building rubble in particular impairs the formation of near-natural watercourse areas, increases the risk of erosion and, last but not least, detracts from the landscape. Organic deposits such as mown material, harvest waste, chaff, manure, compost, piles of leaves and much more lead to an accumulation of nutrients in the embankment area and thus to a species-poor riparian vegetation and increased nutrient input into the watercourse through seepage.

The construction or removal offacilities in, on, above or below surface waters requires authorisation under water law from the lower water authority. This includes, for example, bridges, culverts, footbridges, weirs, stairs, property enclosures, bank walls, discharge points, watercourse crossings by supply and disposal lines, earth fillings and buildings that do not require a building permit. To protect the watercourse, it is generally prohibited to

• Pipe watercourses,
• erecting massive property enclosures in the form of fences or walls along the embankment or in the bed of the watercourse,
• narrowing the cross-section of the watercourse,
• install bank stabilisation to secure the embankment,
• create compost heaps in the bank area and watercourse edge strips,
• dam up the watercourse by means of transverse obstructions,
• carrying out unauthorised bank reinforcements,
• introducing materials (e.g. green waste).

Further information is available:
City of Chemnitz
Environmental Agency, Lower Water and Soil Protection Authority
SG Surface Waters/Municipal Wastewater
Annaberger Straße 93, Technical Town Hall (old building)
Telephone: 0371 488-3620
E-mail: umweltamt.wasser@stadt-chemnitz.de