Yacht on the Müritz-Elde-Wassertraße
This announcement from Berlin gives water sports enthusiasts hope: The waters that were previously downgraded to "residual" or "secondary waterways" are to be repaired and maintained with special measures. These are waters that are no longer relevant for freight traffic, including primarily inland waterways, but also the Schlei, for example.
Federal Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt
Previously it was feared that these areas, which are only important for water tourism and are therefore unqualified, would be abandoned to "decay", as the German Olympic Sports Association feared. But now Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) promised in Berlin: "We will make the waterways fit for water tourism." A separate budget should be set up for this purpose. These announcements can be understood as anticipation of the water tourism concept announced by the federal government for this year; it is laid down in the coalition agreement.
After the rather negative experiences and developments in the past with measures from Bonn and Berlin, this announcement can definitely be understood as a political change. You can read about how this came about, the background to this and how the financing of the measure should succeed in the new YACHT.