4.3 million invested

Au-Gestaden: A new lifeline for nature

Groundbreaking renaturation offensive is in the middle of planning.(Bild: APA)

A once severed branch of the river near Petronell in the district of Bruck an der Leitha is still starving for water from the mother river. But now the area is being reconnected to the Danube!

Only during floods, which only spill over the banks of the Danube very irregularly, is the approximately seven-kilometer-long branch system near Petronell supplied with sufficient water. Now the great river is to flow even more, in the truest sense of the word. "The reconnection to the mighty main channel is a done deal. We are in the middle of planning this ground-breaking renaturation offensive," assured Stephan Pernkopf, Vice Minister of Finance, at the site inspection on the floodplain banks.

Finance Minister Magnus Brunner, National Park Director Edith Klauser and Provincial Councillor Stephan Pernkopf (from left) rejoice at the planned renaturation of the Danube.(Bild: NLK Filzwieser)

Around 4.3 million euros will flow into the good, joint ecological work of EVN, via donau and the national park administration with its committed director Edith Klauser. The best side effect, as EVN Water Managing Director Franz Dinhobl clearly recognizes, is that this additional funding will secure the drinking water supply.

Golden times for underwater fauna 
Minister Brunner, for his part, emphasizes the added value of preserving the Danube as a natural habitat even more paradisiacally and thus also allowing the waterway to flow. And Viadonau Managing Director Hans-Peter Hasenbichler sees golden times ahead for the underwater fauna: "The fact that the side arm is once again full to bursting will cause current-loving fish species to leap for joy."