Klagenfurt completes flood dam to protect 10,000 people

ORF reported Monday that a new flood protection dam at Treimischer Teich in Klagenfurt-Viktring has been completed. The facility is intended to protect around 10,000 people in the city’s western and southern districts, three years after heavy rainfall raised the risk of a dam failure.

The new dam is designed to withstand a once-in-a-century flood and protect settlements below it. Valentin Löcker of the Carinthian government’s water management department said the structure could safely overflow under extreme conditions, giving emergency crews more time to take further measures and preventing the dam from breaking.

The project cost around one million euros. New plants have been added around the site, and a fence has been installed along the dam to prevent people from falling.

New hazard zones could be created

Authorities are also reviewing additional protection measures for streams in the Viktring area. Klagenfurt councillor for flood protection Sandra Wassermann of the FPÖ said a new hazard zone plan was being prepared following the 2023 Zacharias flood event.

She said the areas at risk would probably expand. This could lead to new red zones, which would restrict property owners’ options. Gernot Bogensberger, head of the city’s waste management department, said authorities would have to examine how existing land-use designations for building plots could be handled.

Experts said the floods had shown that some parts of southern Klagenfurt should never have been built on. Where buildings already exist, flood protection is planned along the Sattnitz, although legal issues have delayed the project. In the coming weeks, homeowners will receive leaflets explaining how they can try to protect their property from flooding.