DHK was founded in 1927 for the purpose of maintaining the flood protection installations. It is made up of three bodies: federal government, Land of Lower Austria and Land of Vienna, with via donau being the managing body.

According to law, the DHK is responsible for

• The maintenance of the protective structures and dams in the section from the confluence of the Isper into the Danube to the state boundary at Theben 
• The operation and the administration of the related installations and green areas 
• The preservation of the Danube canal and the maintenance and operation of the weir and lock at Nußdorf 
• The administration of DHK real properties – those are the plots of land that are co-owned by the federal government, the Land of Lower Austria and the city of Vienna