Central Switzerland Nidwalden government approves Buoholzbach flood protection project

SDA

26.9.2024 - 10:24

The Buoholzbach flood protection project aims to significantly reduce the risks in the valley floor as far as Stansstad. (Visualization)
The Buoholzbach flood protection project aims to significantly reduce the risks in the valley floor as far as Stansstad. (Visualization)
Keystone

The excavators will soon be able to move in on the Buoholzbach. The Nidwalden cantonal government has approved the flood protection project, as the canton announced on Thursday. The project aims to significantly reduce the damage potential on the valley floor as far as Stansstad.

Keystone-SDA

The Buoholzbach stream on the border between Wolfenschiessen and Oberdorf was affected by flooding in 2005, which led to flooding at the mouth of the Engelbergeraa. Industrial areas, forests and cultivated land were flooded. Only by removing the debris flow material was it possible to prevent enormous damage as far as Stansstad.

The flood protection project that has now been approved could massively reduce the risk of a flooded valley floor, said Nidwalden Environment Director Joe Christen (FDP) in a press release. The floods in Misox, the Maggia Valley and Brienz had once again demonstrated the importance of river engineering.

In future, the Buoholzbach is to be channelled into the Engelbergeraa via a bedload retention system with a capacity of around 240,000 cubic meters and a new channel in the Ober Allmend Büren area. The renaturation of the course of the stream is intended to promote the habitats of animals and plants. The area will be designed as a recreational space for the local population.

Construction is scheduled to start in November 2024 and be completed by the end of 2027. Initially, clearing work in the area of the bedload collector is on the agenda.

The costs of CHF 49.5 million will be borne proportionally by the canton, the federal government and the two local municipalities. According to the canton, the amount is within the budget approved by the cantonal council in 2021 due to inflation.