Water association
Water associations are organizations that are active in the field of water management . Their organizational form and tasks can vary from state to state.
Austria
The Austrian Water Law Act (WRG 1959, from § 87) provides that water associations can be founded if the measures of water cooperatives extend over several municipalities. A water cooperative, a local authority (e.g. municipality, city, state) or someone who is obliged to maintain public transport routes can be considered as members.
A water association can be established voluntarily, with compulsory membership or by decision of the governor ( compulsory association ). In the compulsory association, some restrictions on the possible fields of activity must be met (there must be measures for flood protection, drinking water supply, sewage disposal and water control or contributions, in any case the public interest must be given, see § 88b, WRG, 1959).
The water boards are not profit-oriented and allow the members to participate in the general assembly. Furthermore, there is the possibility that water associations and water cooperatives join forces to form umbrella associations while maintaining their legal personality . Water associations play a decisive role in the organization of the regional water management in Austria . They enable interested parties to come together to solve water management tasks in large, regional units under the control of the responsible authorities.
Germany
In Germany, the water and soil association (based on the state water laws or the implementation laws for the water association law), the special purpose association (mostly at the inter -municipal level) and the water management association (according to North Rhine-Westphalian special laws) exist as an organizational form for maintaining surface waters .
Association members in the association area are primarily the respective owners of land and facilities, the respective leaseholders and the owners of mine property (real association members) who, as participants, benefit from the association's purpose. The association can be set up either on a voluntary basis or ex officio if it is in the public interest. Some of the individual federal states (e.g. Lower Saxony) have passed so-called implementation laws for the Water Association Act. On a water board of be based on public law , all of the water management together stakeholders and those affected by it.
No water associations within the meaning of German law are associations that perform the public-law task of water supply and wastewater disposal and not also water maintenance, for these see the water association .
Netherlands and Belgium
In addition to the central water authority Rijkswaterstaat, which is subordinate to the Dutch Ministry of Transport and Water Management, there are 21 regional dyke / polder committees in the Netherlands, called waterschap or hoogheemraadschap (mostly translated as waterboards ). The committee is called Hoogheemraadschap when its administrative area includes the coast. They are among the oldest institutions in the Netherlands. In Flemish Belgium , comparable institutions are the polders and wateringen .
