Blackheads identified
It is in this context that the authorities called on a design office to help municipal services. Black spots were thus identified, leading to the creation of Temporary Immersion Zones (ZIT), natural spaces designed so that runoff water can spread when a watercourse overflows. Generally, the work consists of raising a dike which temporarily retains the water, extending its flow time.
Five areas soon to be developed
In Hannut, no less than 25 of these devices are expected to see the light of day in the coming years. Given the scale of the work, some of them have been defined as priorities. The authorities have made good progress on the creation of five of these zones, which are ready or almost ready with regard to the specifications and for which permits have been granted or are about to be granted. “Basically, three out of five final permits were granted. Bids must be submitted this year to be awarded to a contractor“, specifies the mayor, Manu Douette.
Their creation takes time because the zones in question, which are often located along waterways, sometimes encroach on land that is not communal. It is therefore sometimes necessary to negotiate with private owners in order to acquire or expropriate land. Therefore, only the markers in two zones are currently completely green for the start of construction, estimated for spring 2025.
However, the City did not wait for agreements to be reached with the owners, and chose to work in parallel on the administrative side, in order to bring these essential projects to life as quickly as possible for residents.
The region questioned
Normally, the authorities should have waited for promises of subsidies from the Walloon Region before launching the various files. Given the need to act to provide an effective response to flooding, and the significant delays before the end of the procedure, the opposite was recommended: “It was a problem for us to wait, it would have taken four years before the ZITs saw the light of day“, agrees Manu Douette, who wanted to speed up the process.
Citing the urgency, Hannut contacted the office of the competent minister by means of a letter in order to receive a promise of subsidies, while the operations have already been launched, and “to discuss our difficulties“, concludes the mayor.
These ZITs will be added to the storm basins already set up in Hannut territory (Hannut, Bertrée, Crehen, Thisnes, Wansin) to retain water upstream as much as possible and avoid flooding downstream.
Other actions: cleaning of sewers and 3000 drains
In addition to the creation of several temporary immersion zones, the various services of the City of Hannut analyze and work within the framework of a global flood control plan, taking up various actions in the different Hannut villages.
Let us cite among these: the cleaning of sewers and the 3,000 drains, the planting of hedges, which is a natural solution to slow down water runoff, the cleaning of open ditches, the placement of bale dams in the sensitive areas, allowing water runoff to be slowed down.
Raise awareness among real estate developers
Let us also remember that the City had signed a new agreement in January of this year with AIDE (Intercommunal Association for the demerger and purification of municipalities in the province of Liège), inviting real estate developers to carry out a much more in-depth study to new housing estates. A new tool which obliges them to respect the requests and requirements formulated by the intermunicipal association.
Municipal bonus
Since the beginning of 2024, the City has also decided to provide assistance to each citizen who wishes to set up individual sustainable protection systems against flooding and mudslides through a municipal bonus which amounts to 80% of the expense incurred by the applicant and is capped at €1,000 per building and per period of 5 years.
