Organisation of flood protection in Austria
The national organisation of flood protection in Austria is subdivided on the basis of the legal requirements, diversity of natural areas, and the regionally different tasks into three fields:
- Regulation and supervision of waters.
- Torrent control
- Maintenance and development of the waterways:
These three fields of tasks are assigned to the following administrative units:
The care of all waters except for the torrents and waterways falls within the responsibility of the Federal Water Engineering Administration (Bundeswasserbauverwaltung, BWV). This task is fulfilled jointly with the offices of the provincial governments and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism (Division I/6 Flood Control Management).
Torrents, whose limits are defined by ordinance, fall within the competence of the Forest Engineering Service in Torrent and Avalanche Control (Forsttechnischer Dienst der Wildbach- und Lawinenverbauung WLV) at Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism.
The rivers Danube, March and Thaya fall within the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK, Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie).