Petition is addressed to: Petitionsausschuss des Europäischen Parlaments

The petitioner draws attention to the situation of watercourses in the “Hessian Ried”. He claims that when flooding occurs the watercourses in question can no longer help with drainage, with the result that the area is becoming marshy. He also takes the view that the problem stems from a lack of action on the part of the authorities. In his view, they have done nothing to ensure that the watercourses can act as drainage channels; they are full of sludge and no side pockets have been created. He alleges that the competent authorities wrongly informed him that the lack of a slope made drainage impossible in this area. He therefore accuses the municipal and state authorities of failure to comply with the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC of 23 October 2000, as transposed by the Hesse Water Law).