Brandenburg’s Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) has presented an “overall concept for adapting to climate change in the water policy area” with which the state is to be prepared for future water shortages. The Kenya cabinet made up of the SPD, CDU and Greens had previously approved the 31-page paper. At the same time, the Ministry of the Environment released a new online low-water traffic light for Brandenburg waters on Tuesday, which sounds the alarm at critical water levels. Municipalities can then react with removal bans, for example.
“Our landscape is bone dry. Nothing is right at all,” Vogel warned at a press conference. He pointed out that the Black Elster, for example, regularly dries up – but at the same time it is “our Aartal” in heavy rain, with the risk of flooding. The winter precipitation in recent weeks should not hide the long-felt consequences of climate change, said Vogel.
“We consider them to be unusually high.” They are just about the long-term average. According to him, the groundwater level in Brandenburg has already dropped by one meter compared to the years 1981 to 2010, and the most recent winter, with an average temperature of 3.2 degrees, was three degrees warmer than winters in earlier times.
Vogel: Court proceedings have no impact on Gigafactory
And conflicts in the capital region about water are already coming to a head, for example in the vicinity of the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide, for which the final approval is expected at the end of the week. Vogel didn’t rule that out. He pointed out that this would be “an interim status”, since the fulfillment of the requirements must be clarified before the start of production. As reported, the start of operations is currently scheduled for March 22nd/23rd, with the participation of Elon Musk.
First of all, the court proceedings will take place at the Frankfurt (Oder) administrative court on Friday as to whether higher funding quotas for the Eggersdorf waterworks approved by the State Environment Agency in 2020 are possibly illegal. The water association Strausberg-Erkner (WSE) also wants to supply 1.4 million cubic meters annually to supply the Tesla factory.
Vogel expressed confidence that the approval will stand up in court. The plaintiffs are the Green League and the Brandenburg Nature Conservation Union, who complain about the lack of an environmental impact assessment. Vogel emphasized that the outcome of the proceedings had no impact on the Gigafactory.
According to him, the Strausberg Erkner water association definitely has enough approved funding quotas to supply Tesla. The WSE denies this and threatens to terminate the supply contract for Tesla if Eggersdorf fails. As reported, the WSE has changed its statutes in order to be able to allocate water supplies for consumers and companies in dry seasons.
Ministry: Climate change leads to less available water
The concept presented by Vogel goes back to a state parliament resolution of August 26, 2020. It should actually be finished by December 31, 2021 at the latest, according to Parliament’s specifications. It describes in detail the problem situation of the climate change challenges around the water. “The available amount of water continues to decrease as a result of higher temperatures, while at the same time the need for additional water increases,” it says.
Brandenburg is rich in water, with 10,000 lakes, 34,600 kilometers of watercourses, but the “water supply is low, also because of the low rainfall compared to other parts of Germany.” The outlook looks like this: “An increase in dry and heat phases, the is forecast to last longer. Heavy precipitation will occur more frequently.” More water will run off or evaporate, “so that less water remains available even if the total amount remains the same.”
Ways out through forest conversion, moor protection, dyke removal – lower funding quotas for groundwater
Criticism, for example from environmental organizations, is programmed. Because the passages on how countermeasures should be taken remain general. details are missing. With the “state water balance”, for example, forest conversion should ensure that water is retained and can seep away. It’s about re-irrigating dried-up moors, relocating dykes on rivers or planning settlements differently, as Vogel said.
“Groundwater management” is also necessary, according to the concept, in which, for example, a “climate change deduction” is to be introduced when approving production volumes – i.e. fewer withdrawals are to be approved in the future as a precaution. As Vogel admitted, there is no regional, precise data on the groundwater reserves in the country.
Vogel does not believe that overall management at the state level is necessary
Only recently, at a hearing in the Brandenburg state parliament, experts unanimously criticized the state’s lack of overall management to prepare for water shortages and the associated conflicts in view of the increasing population in Berlin and the surrounding area and climate change. The Berliner Wasserbetriebe (BWB), for example, are urgently demanding this.
“Everyone must act so that the supply of drinking water does not become a limiting factor in the development of the region,” warned Joachim Jost, head of the Berliner Wasserbetriebe (BWB) department on behalf of an initiative of 16 regional water suppliers. Faster approval procedures for waterworks are needed.
One looks in vain for all this in the paper. Instead, Vogel and the concept are sticking to the fact that in Brandenburg it should remain primarily the task of the municipal level and its water associations to ensure availability even in times of scarce water, or to “set up interconnected systems”, i.e. long-distance water pipes. “We see ourselves in the role of idea provider,” said Vogel.
