MWith a national water strategy, the federal government wants to ensure that clean water “is always and everywhere in Germany in sufficient quantities”. For a long time this seemed to be self-evident. But the past few days have shown that water is becoming a political issue, raising questions of distribution and rationing. Precautions must be taken in times of heat, drought, flash floods and heavy rain as a result of climate change. This is to be done with the help of the national water strategy, which is being developed under the leadership of Steffi Lemke (Greens) in the Federal Ministry for the Environment.
The approximately 100-page draft strategy was submitted to the departmental vote on Thursday, and the cabinet referral is planned for the end of the year. Intensive discussions and debates are expected along the way. There is talk of a “national effort” that the federal, state and local governments would have to undertake together and with the involvement of agriculture, trade, industry and consumers to protect the water.
Focus on natural climate protection
The aim of the strategy is to bring about a “water transition” by 2050 through preventive and integrative measures. It is about ensuring the protection of natural water resources and the sustainable use of water, “in all areas of life and business for the benefit of the environment,” according to government circles.
The water strategy includes a package of 77 measures, primarily for the protection and use of inland water and groundwater. The North and Baltic Seas are also to be better protected against nutrients and pollutants from agriculture, industry, commerce and households getting into the seas via rivers. A separate marine strategy is to be presented later for their comprehensive protection. The plans for the national water strategy also provide for financial support: the target is an annual sum of 100 million euros over ten years for climate-related measures.
The range of topics in the draft strategy is wide. This includes preventive measures against water shortages, sustainable water management, water-friendly and climate-adapted land use, the limitation of pollutants and technical, personnel and financial improvements in administration and consumer education. The implementation of the strategy is to be coordinated and supported by an interministerial working group. Every six years, the committee is to present a report on how far it has come.
The draft that has now been submitted is based on a proposal for a national water strategy that the Federal Environment Ministry had already presented last summer, at that time still under Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) from the Merkel cabinet. Later, during a hearing, further suggestions and information from the federal states and those responsible from water management-related fields of work were incorporated. The topic complex of natural climate protection and protection of water ecosystems is more strongly accentuated in the current draft. The planned measures include the renaturation of floodplains and the improvement of soil storage capacity. The short-term actions, which should be started immediately or at least in the next five years, include measures to protect, restore and permanently secure the near-natural water balance. Among other things, a “real-time monitoring” for the extraction of groundwater is to be set up. Exceptions to the permit requirement for groundwater abstraction, on the other hand, are to be eliminated. In cooperation between the federal and state governments, a nationwide uniform definition of indicators and parameters for the characterization of low water, dryness and drought is to be developed. But in the future, too, the municipalities should be responsible for decisions in the event of water shortages; relocation or centralization is not planned.
In the short term, they also want to tackle the difficult issue of manufacturer responsibility. Companies that manufacture or market polluting products should be held more accountable. Similar to other actions within the framework of the water strategy, guidelines and plans for water protection at European Union level also play a role.
