The Federal Supreme Court has upheld in full the appeal we lodged on behalf of our client WWF, a global environmental organization.

According to the ruling delivered today, the cantons are obliged to determine the space required for water bodies in accordance with the Water Protection Act – a task that should have been implemented years ago. In large parts of Switzerland, including the canton of Zurich, this has not yet been done, or only partially.

In this specific case, the Federal Supreme Court had to assess whether the lack of a determination of the space required for the Töss river could be held against a building contractor. As there was no binding demarcation of this space requirement for landowners, the court had to decide whether a construction project could nevertheless be stopped on the basis of the lack of water space.

The Federal Supreme Court came to the clear conclusion that the cantons were obliged to determine the space required for the Töss. It thus places the protection of the waterway above private interests and strengthens the enforcement of the Water Protection Act. In the present case, the canton of Zurich would have had to enact a planning zone to secure the definitive determination of the waterway space.

We welcome this landmark ruling, which underscores the importance of water protection and the responsibility of the cantons in enforcing environmental law.

WWF Switzerland was comprehensively advised by Marcel C. Steinegger (Senior Counsel, Arbitration and Litigation) and his team.