Land drainage (meliorace)

Under Czech Water Act No. 254/2001 Coll., land improvement structures (meliorace) are structures for irrigating and draining land and for protecting it against water erosion. Most often this means farmland drainage, which removes excess surface water and groundwater and aerates the soil. Subsurface drainage consists of a network of drain pipes, surface drainage of channels and ditches.

Main and detailed drainage

• Main drainage facilities: open channels and ditches, covered pipes with an internal diameter of 30 cm or more and pumping stations. State-owned ones are managed by the State Land Office (Státní pozemkový úřad).
• Detailed drainage facilities: collector and main field drains, drainage shafts and outlets, and for surface drainage collector ditches. State-owned detailed facilities on other people's land as a rule passed under the Water Act into the ownership of the landowners.

What it means for a buyer

The owner of land with a drainage structure built before the Water Act took effect that serves several plots or was built in the public interest must tolerate it, must not use the land in a way that impairs its function, should report obvious defects and must allow maintenance. If a building, a utility trench or a swimming pool cuts through a drain, water may start to collect on the plot or on neighbouring land. Drainage is mainly used on waterlogged soils such as gleyed soils and stagnosols.

Watch out for

Field drains are not shown on the cadastral map and are not entered in the land register as structures. The Ministry of Agriculture provides historical drainage data alongside the LPIS land register, but warns that they are neither updated nor complete, because no record of drainage and its changes on the ground exists. Drainage ditches and irrigation facilities are part of the agricultural land fund, and an application for removal from the fund must include information on drainage and irrigation.

How do I find out whether a plot is drained?

Useful sources are the Ministry of Agriculture's historical drainage map, an enquiry to the State Land Office about main facilities, and local knowledge, such as drain outlets into a ditch or stream. When building on former farmland, take this into account already in the survey and design.