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Sunflower field in September 2022 near Berlin
Photo: Wolfgang Kumm / dpa
More and more federal states want farmers to pay for their water consumption. In view of more frequent droughts in times of climate change, the aim is to encourage farmers to use water more sparingly. Most recently, for example, the traffic light government in Rhineland-Palatinate announced that it would collect money for the extraction of groundwater and surface water in agriculture and forestry in the future.
In other federal states, there are already some corresponding regulations or they are being discussed, as a survey by the dpa news agency has shown. Until now, farmers have mostly been exempt from the fees for water abstraction or even received parts of the money as compensation for a low use of fertilizers.
"Due to climate change, droughts in Europe have become much more likely and also more intense," said climate researcher Fred Hattermann from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research of the German Press Agency. It has simply become warmer – in Germany by an average of two degrees – and thus the winters have become shorter, in which groundwater, lakes and soils are replenished. In addition, there are increasingly long-lasting weather conditions – such as high-pressure areas without rainfall.
According to the Drought Monitor of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, there was an exceptional drought in deeper soil layers in several federal states at the weekend. This corresponds to the fifth of five levels on the drought monitor. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Berlin were particularly affected. Many plants draw their water from the deeper soil layers up to a depth of 1.8 meters.
In some countries, water abstraction already costs
In several of these states – Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony – water abstraction for agriculture is already subject to a fee, in some cases for decades. There are differences in prices, which are sometimes 0.7 cents per cubic meter in Saarland and 2 cents per cubic meter in Saxony-Anhalt. According to the information, the same amount is not levied for all water resources. In Saxony-Anhalt, an increase in the price is also being discussed, while in Bavaria a levy is to be introduced after next year's election. The introduction in the Free State has been announced since 2018.
Other federal states such as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Hesse are also considering water abstraction fees for agriculture. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the planned law is scheduled to come into force at the beginning of 2024. Six cents are to be charged for one cubic metre of groundwater and 2.4 cents for one cubic metre of surface water. In North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg, there are exceptions to such fees for farmers, which are to remain in place for the time being.
Drought makes forests susceptible to pests
The consequences of the many droughts in Germany can be seen, for example, in the Harz Mountains. More than 80 percent of the spruce forest there has been destroyed in recent years – mainly because the trees are susceptible to the pest beetle due to a lack of water.
In France, regions in the south of the country on the border with Spain recently declared a state of crisis due to persistent drought. According to this, farmers are rarely allowed to irrigate their plants there. Private individuals also have to restrict themselves, and there are failures in the water supply. In the U.S., three states recently reached an agreement to save the Colorado River – which threatens to dry up, and the drinking water and electricity supply of 40 million people is in danger.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, there have already been local bans on water use in certain areas, such as garden irrigation, in the past. In addition to water abstraction fees, the federal states are also trying to secure their future water supply in other ways. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania would like to retain more water in the area by restoring moors or wider edge strips of fields, among other things. The Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment recently supported projects that want to adapt water management to climate change with 8.2 million euros.
mgo/dpa