For the eighth time in a row, Aqua&Gas magazine has published an overview of political events and debates on the topic of water and water bodies from the previous year, i.e. 2024. The online version of the article also contains user-friendly direct links to the initiatives, reports and judgements.

Two topics were at the top of the agenda both in the cantons and in parliament in Bern: the further expansion of hydropower and the pollution of water resources by potentially harmful substances. In both cases, there is a struggle between national supply and protection aspects - in the case of hydropower between kilowatt hours and landscape and water protection, and in the case of substance pollution between agricultural production and precautions for human and environmental health. A report by the Swiss Federal Audit Office on the latter is interesting. The report states that the polluter pays principle is not applied consistently enough and that the public sector is almost always responsible for remediation. Better monitoring structures for water, soil and air are also called for.

The events surrounding the floods in Valais in June (pictured above) led to a special cantonal session in October. Shortly before the floods, the State Council had cancelled the generational project for the third Rhone correction with planned costs of over CHF 3.5 billion. Local projects along the Rhone that were actually prioritised have also been put on the back burner. These include improvements to flood protection near Sierre, where the aluminium industry, among others, was flooded.