Flooding in Alfdorf: How reservoirs prevented worse things from happening!

Flooding in Alfdorf: How reservoirs prevented worse things from happening!

The debriefing of the flood event that affected parts of the region in June 2024 took place on June 3, 2025. The event was attended by over 50 participants, including mayors, fire department commanders and construction site managers from the member municipalities of the Kocher-Lein water association. The head of the association and mayor Armin Kiemel welcomed those present in the newly completed hall for the expansion of the association's own building yard at the Federbach flood retention basin (HRB) in Göggingen-Horn. According to zvw.de, these basins prevented worse things from happening during the last flood.

The catchment area of ​​the Kocher and Lein was affected by the heavy rainfall that triggered the flood in June 2024. The amount of water caused by the rain was enormous, particularly in valleys, but also in the Welzheim Forest. The Kocher-Lein water association, which operates a total of eleven flood retention basins in the Swabian Forest, was challenged in this critical phase. Four of these pools are in Alfdorf and one is in the Welzheim district.

Effective measures and support through pelvis

During the meeting, the importance of flood retention basins was highlighted. Kiemel emphasized how these systems are essential for protecting residents. Seven of eleven flood relief systems were activated during the last flood event. Communities such as Täferrot, Leinzell, Heuchlingen and Abtsgmünd had to be evacuated as a result of the extreme weather conditions, with the evacuation based on the flood hazard maps.

The technical operations manager Marty Straßer presented the water association, which was founded in 1957, and explained how the flood retention basins work. In addition, the HRB Federbach, which was put into operation in 1982, was visited. It has a dam of 26 meters and a total storage volume of around 850,000 m³. The technology in the company building was renovated last year, which further increases the efficiency of the system. The water association extends across the districts of Rems-Murr-Kreis, Ostalbkreis and Schwäbisch Hall and includes a total of 18 member municipalities.

Environmental protection and expanded responsibilities

The water association is not only responsible for regulating water runoff in a catchment area totaling 400 km², but is also involved in environmental protection, local recreation and landscape protection measures. According to information from schwaebische.de, the association employs four full-time dam keepers and a technical operations manager to overcome the challenges of water regulation.

Overall, looking back at the events of the past year shows how crucial the preparations and technical infrastructure are for flood protection. The exchanges during the debriefing underscored the shared commitment of affected communities to improve safety policies and better respond to future natural events.