Floods and devastating flood events used to occur more frequently along the Walzbach. This could only be stopped with the construction of the retention basin. This has a backwater volume of 175,000 cubic meters. History expert Klaus Geggus from the Citizens' and Local History Association writes: "Until the construction of the retention basin, regular flooding by the rolling stream ("dirty rolling") in the event of sudden cloudbursts/thunderstorms were common. Not only the Bahnhofstraße was affected, but at times even the entire Oberdorf.”
In the flood of the century in May 1746, three people lost their lives and three houses were completely destroyed by the water, according to Geggus. In the "Heimatbuch Weingarten (Baden)", local historian Pastor Albert Nikolaus cites the years 1929, 1931 and 1934 as examples of high water and flooding. "But there were also floods in the post-war period," reports Klaus Geggus. "The otherwise peaceful village stream developed into a raging river that flooded the banks and caused terrible damage, especially in the upper village above the Untermühle and from the Mützenau to the Kanalstraße."
(Source: Homepage Weingarten/Baden)