DW: Water… the Germans will say it’s water too – Its supply in Brandenburg is on a ticket

A study commissioned by the European Commission in 2018 identified eight rivers, in whose areas the risk of conflicts for the use of increasingly scarce water is particularly high. In addition to the Nile, Euphrates and Tigris, scientists also include the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus and Colorado rivers. Germany is not included in this study because it may have always been considered a country with abundant water reserves, but climate change is making summers in the regions between the Alps and the North Sea hotter and drier. The result is wetlands drying up and forests burning. In rivers, water levels are falling, riverboats are finding it difficult to pass, the water table is sinking, and concern about whether there will be enough water is growing.

Litigation over water

Water expert Holger Schindler expects Germany too to be driven into regional conflicts centered on water use. “In Rhineland-Palatinate we have the example in the national park, where new springs are opened for more water due to climate change. For example, there are these Schwollener mineral water companies that now want to use more water from the national park. And of course the question immediately arises: is something like this permissible in a national park?”

More and more similar cases end up in the courts. For example, in the city of Lüneburg in northern Germany, where Hamburg has been supplied with water for 40 years, the water company now wants to significantly increase the quantities. Due to ecological concerns, however, the city put a cap. The case is in the courts.

Frankfurt is another typical example, as pointed out by Dieter Borchardt, head of the research department “Environment and water resources” at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research. “It’s about decades of competition for water use between the city of Frankfurt and the surrounding area. In the settlement of Reed in the Fulda region, water was over-exploited resulting in damage to buildings as the ground subsided, with disputes over what caused it. But efforts have long been made to mitigate these conflicts through programs with long-term measures.”

Water with the ticket

Industry is particularly “thirsty” for water. Automaker Tesla’s factory in Greenheide in Brandenburg has hit the headlines. Elon Musk built it in the middle of an area suffering from a lack of water and drinking water protection. It is estimated that it needs 1.4 million cubic meters per year for its operation. Water in the area is now so scarce that the local supplier has started rationing it. Anyone moving into the area and getting a new water connection is only allowed to use 105 liters per person per day.

Similar examples can be found in power plants. One of the biggest consumers of water is the energy giant RWE. It consumes nearly 500 million cubic meters per year in open-pit lignite mines. Due to increasing water scarcity, the environment ministry is working on a national water strategy. The draft presented in 2021 refers to plans to be implemented between 2030 and 2050. “Water management is an ongoing mission with a long horizon,” explains water expert Borchardt. And he points out that the effects of climate change may not become fully apparent until after 2050. “That’s why we need to adapt to it now,” he says.

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