Municipality of Waidhofen/Ybbs, Austria

Project Partner 3

The municipal waterworks of Waidhofen / Ybbs (MWY) are the largest water supplier in the region Mostviertel-Eisenwurzen (Lower Austria). In addition to the central region of Waidhofen / Ybbs the municipal waterworks supply also further municipalities, water cooperatives nearby and the largest dairy in Austria with drinking water. The supply usually consists of non-treated, native spring water from karst mountainous areas. As these sources are quite vulnerable the respective sites require the best possible protection of drinking water resources and therefore the designation respectively planning of comprehensive water protection and conservation areas.

The planned pilot action is situated within the relevant drinking water resources in a mountainous catchment, which is mainly covered by forests (more than 90%) and some grassland areas. Based on experiences and surveys already gained within previous projects (CC-WaterS, CC-WARE) best forest management practices will be implemented by means of contracts with the involved land owners. On the basis of a monetary valuation guidelines for subsidies and compensation payments for affected forest owners will be prepared in close cooperation with the Lead Partner.

Due to the involvement of the waterworks of the Municipality of Waidhofen/Ybbs important inputs concerning experiences on operational level gained through the pilot action can be provided within several national stakeholder discussions and workshops. Furthermore the link between local municipality authorities and regional community is fostered.

Waidhofen/Ybbs will be the host for the Final Conference, where also the closing “DriFLU Charta” will be signed by notable representatives of all project partner countries as an important commitment towards an optimized land use management regarding drinking water protection.

Contact Person: Markus Hochleitner

www.waidhofen.at