German utilities push for climate adaptation to prevent water use conflicts

Associations representing water utilities have called for the swift implementation of climate adaptation measures to protect Germany from looming water conflicts. To secure future water supply and proper wastewater disposal, Germany needs to invest heavily in climate-resilient connections between water supply networks, modern rain water management, and nature-based solutions such as moorland restoration, the alliance including associations BDEW, VKU, DVGW and DWA said.

“These measures require not only accelerated approval procedures, but also adequate and sustainable financing, which cannot be guaranteed through municipal levies alone,” the group wrote in a press release. The associations warned that water use conflicts arise during drought periods between public water supply and other user groups, such as industry or agriculture. Germany therefore needed constitutionally enshrined guidelines on who gets to use water first and how, they said.

“Extreme weather events such as floods, heavy rainfall, droughts and heat waves pose enormous challenges for water management,” the group said in a position paper. Conflicts could also arise regarding wastewater disposal. Periods with low water levels in rivers result in higher concentration of wastewater. 

The associations called for Germany to anchor and implement the “polluter pays” principle – where the cost of treating polluted drinking water from fertilisers and pesticides would be borne by the agricultural sector, for example – to guarantee good groundwater quality and protect water bodies from the negative consequences of climate change.

Ground water levels in Germany are under stress from a range of factors, including longer dry spells caused by global warming and local withdrawal for industry production or energy generation purposes. Meanwhile, water use could increase in future, for example through the expansion of data centres in need of cooling, and battery and semiconductor factories. In the region surrounding Germany's capital Berlin, this has led to calls for increasing water prices to curb industry demand. With a national ‘water strategy’, Germany's government has aimed to improve the resilience of the country’s water supply.