Streams

Streams can be private or public and open or piped. Drainage pipes, for example, are also a watercourse.

Sønderborg Municipality has a duty to maintain the public watercourses, while the plot owners have a duty to maintain private watercourses. The watercourses in Sønderborg Municipality are small and particularly vulnerable to pollution, environmental accidents, water extraction and waste water.

Remember that environmental accidents must always be reported to 112.

Map of watercourses

See map of streams here.

What obligations do I have if I am a landowner for a watercourse?

If you are the owner of a stream, you must pay particular attention to:

• The free flow of water must not be obstructed.
• As a plot owner, you are obliged to maintain private streams as needed, so that the water flow capacity does not change, i.e. piped sections must be flushed, root-cut, repaired or replaced as necessary and any blockages must be removed (but only deposited material). When you clean your drains, you must remember to be aware that mud, sand and ocher in the drain pipes must not be flushed directly into open streams.
• The conditions surrounding public watercourses are determined by watercourse regulations. In the joint regulations, you can see which general obligations you as a lot owner have and which the municipality stands for. When the municipality has cut crops, you have e.g. obligation to remove and spread open crops at least 2 meters from the watercourse edge. Read more in the Common Regulations under Documents. 
• There is a 2-3 m barrier along natural streams in the land zone. Read more in the pamphlet about banks by streams under Documents and the Danish Agency for Agriculture's website:
  GLM 4 - conditionality: 3-metre barriers along lakes and streams - Landbrugsstyrelsen

You can contact Sønderborg Municipality (see contact information at the bottom of the page) if you believe that a public watercourse needs cleaning or other maintenance.

If you are responsible for inadequate maintenance, you may risk liability for the affected properties. 

You also have the right to have your neighbors ensure that the water drains from their properties so that the water from your property can be drained away. Talk to your neighbor about the problem. Read more about neighbor complaints regarding watercourses . If the problems continue, you can contact the municipality via this electronic form.

Can I plant or remove vegetation close to a watercourse?

You must not plant so close to piped streams or drains that there is a risk of roots penetrating the pipework. 

You may not plant trees in public watercourses without the permission of Sønderborg Municipality. In the case of open public watercourses, you must keep a distance of 8 m to the upper edge of the watercourse. In the case of piped public watercourses, you must keep a distance of 4 m to the outer edge of the pipe.

You must also apply for permission to remove trees and shrubs along open public watercourses.

When should I apply for permission to change my stream?

You may only change in or near open and piped watercourses with the municipality's permission. However, you must be aware of whether the watercourse is particularly protected by §3 of the Nature Protection Act and/or targeted in the Watershed Plans.

You must apply for permission to:

• measures that can change the water flow capacity.
• to change the course or cross-section of the stream.
• to establish bridges, overpasses and slope protection.
• to cross streams with pipelines, cables and the like.
• to establish buildings, fixed fences, planting, less than 8 meters from the upper edge of open watercourses and less than 4 meters from piped watercourses.
• Changing the natural drainage of water to another property or obstructing drainage from higher-lying properties.
• to establish watering points.
• to restore the stream, e.g. when laying stones and alley gravel. 
• to remove trees and bushes that shade the stream.

Apply for a watercourse crossing . You are responsible for obtaining the necessary permits from landowners affected by the crossing. If the pipeline is to be located in a nature conservation area, you must also apply for an exemption from the Nature Conservation Act.

Apply to change the natural drainage of water. No one may change the natural drainage of water to another property or obstruct the natural drainage of water from higher-lying properties without the permission of the river authority.
 

Apply for joint use of pipelines . According to Section 63 of the Waterways Act, anyone who directs water to a drain or a piped watercourse is a joint user of the pipeline in question. If you wish to divert water to a pipeline, you must also apply to become a joint user.

If you want to change a watercourse, you must submit an application for regulation of the watercourse . The regulation case describes, among other things, who will pay for the regulation. See a form for a party declaration here.

Is my watercourse particularly protected under the Nature Conservation Act?

Watercourses may be protected by Section 3 of the Nature Protection Act . This applies to both public and private watercourses. In these watercourses, normal maintenance may be carried out, but the condition may not be changed without a dispensation. See them on the map.