In view of the drought this year, Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) is calling for a rethink in how we use water in Germany. «The times when we didn't have to worry about water in Germany are finally over. “Germany needs to deal with water differently,” Schneider told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. For this he receives approval from his counterpart from North Rhine-Westphalia, but this also comes with demands.
The low water levels in rivers such as the Rhine led to a significant restriction on inland shipping this summer. Schneider called the situation on the Rhine and Lake Constance a dramatic burden on nature and the economy. But it is only a visible sign of a larger development.
A conference on water policy will take place in Berlin at the Federal Environment Ministry on Monday. EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall will also take part.
Schneider went on to say that draining water as quickly as possible and draining wet areas has been the water policy of the last few centuries. “Today the task is to keep water in the landscape as much as possible. If the mountains and their glaciers fail to provide water, the rivers, floodplains, forests and soils will have to become even more water reservoirs," explained Schneider.
This means, for example, rewetting dry moors, giving rivers more space and converting forests into stable mixed forests. The technical water infrastructure also needs to be made fit.
“The states would do well to invest a large portion of the funds from the special fund in water infrastructure,” said Schneider. The federal government has made 100 billion euros available to the states from the special fund for infrastructure.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Environment and Transport Minister Oliver Krischer (Greens) is calling for the federal government to invest more heavily in water infrastructure in the long term. “North Rhine-Westphalia is already acting accordingly within the scope of the options that the federal government gives us. But the special fund is also finite,” he told the dpa.
In addition, EU funding should be appropriately made available for this area in the future. “Water resilience must not become a secondary task in European funding policy,” he emphasized. The meeting with EU Environment Commissioner Roswall should be used for this.
«Carsten Schneider correctly recognized: The best remedy against drought, heat and low water is consistent water retention in the area. “This is the only way we can limit the economic damage caused by climate change in the long term,” emphasizes the Green politician.
This requires a far-reaching restructuring of the water infrastructure. “In many places today it is still designed to do the opposite: to drain water away as quickly as possible instead of holding it in the area.” Germany needs a joint climate adaptation task anchored in the Basic Law and a significant strengthening of the “Natural Climate Protection” action program.
