Anyone who travels by train often will probably know the Kinzigtalsperre between Steinau an der Straße and Bad Soden-Salmünster. Because the ICE route from Frankfurt to Fulda runs through a narrow alley between the reservoir and the slope of the Sandkopfberg, the view from the carriage window is always of the 14 meter high dam and the shiny surface of water. This summer, however, the sandy strip on the bank is particularly wide because the water level has dropped so much due to the drought.
The huge retention basin fulfills several important functions. It protects the downstream part of the densely populated Kinzigtal from devastating floods when it rains heavily or when the melting snow on the Vogelsberg causes rivers and streams to swell. In dry periods or droughts, however, the accumulated reserves irrigate the Kinzig and prevent it from drying out. This is important for nature, people and the economy. And then there is a turbine that, powered by hydroelectric power, supplies at least 1.3 megawatt hours of electricity per year.
Dams and reservoirs like those on the Kinzig protect against floods and droughts, supply electricity or store reserves that can be processed into drinking water in order to protect groundwater. The reservoirs also invite you to relax. Many of them are popular destinations for day trippers, tourists or water sports enthusiasts. The German Dam Committee (DTK) counts 380 large dams across the country. Without these vital structures, we would be exposed to floods and droughts even more mercilessly. Not only people benefit from their protection, but also nature. Because floods and dry rivers stress animals and plants or even cause them to die.
In addition to the larger dams such as the Kinzigtalsperre, the Edertalsperre in northern Hesse, the Bleilochtalsperre on the Saale in Thuringia or the Baldeneysee near Essen, to name just a few, there are many smaller dams that do not appear in the list of 380 German dams. Taming rivers and streams is a small-scale, comprehensive task, not just at individual points.
Some of the funds from the special fund set up by the federal government to modernize infrastructure are also available for water infrastructure. According to Thomas Krings from supply chain financing Cflox, at least something has changed for the waterways. According to the federal government's draft budget from July, at least 1.2 billion euros will flow into rivers and canals next year. In the short term, according to Krings, this will not help companies plagued by transport bottlenecks, even if the full amount of money flows. Locks, weirs and dams would take many years to plan and build.
However, the funding has not yet been decided by the Bundestag. “There is still no separate federal program for dams,” says supply chain expert Kai-Oliver Zander, partner at the consulting firm Arthur D. Little. The federal government currently only operates two dams. One of the two dams under the care of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration is the Edertalsperre.
Conflicts like something out of an economics textbook
Because the dams fulfill such different and important functions, they spark conflicts over the scarce resource of water. A prime example is the Edersee, which was created by a dam near Korbach in northern Hesse that was built at the beginning of the 20th century. The facility is of strategic importance. During the Second World War, the British blew a breach in the dam wall with a specially made aerial bomb and triggered a tidal wave. Numerous residents drowned.
The Eder Dam was primarily intended to control the water levels of the Weser and the Mittelland Canal in order to keep the important waterways passable for shipping. If the water flows out uncontrollably, there will no longer be enough in the river for cargo ships and excursion steamers in summer.
The consequences that dry rivers have for shipping can be seen particularly on the Rhine, where the water levels are lower this year than ever before. Oil tankers and cargo ships have to reduce their draft and can only load ten to 20 percent, according to supply chain data service Everstream Analytics. Freight rates have increased by 250 percent. Because of transport bottlenecks, chemical factories and blast furnaces are reducing their production.
Another task of the Eder Dam is to protect against flooding. In addition, hydropower supplies electricity there, very similar to that at the Kinzig Dam, although the Edersee in the middle of the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park is even more spectacular in terms of landscape. This makes it a magnet for tourists and water sports enthusiasts. It's not just North Hesse who swim and fish here or sail through the fjord-like waters at the foot of Waldecker Castle. The flourishing Edersee tourism has caused many people to forget the original main function of the dam as a storage facility for the Hessian and Lower Saxony waterways over the years.
But since the beginning of the 21st century, extreme weather events with heavy rain or heat waves have become more frequent, conflicts between the tourist use of the Edersee and inland shipping have intensified. Because of the drought, in some years so much water is drained that sailors have to pull their boats ashore as early as July. Boat rental companies and restaurateurs fear for their business survival because the summer season ends earlier and earlier. They would prefer less water to be tapped, commercial shipping or not. The drought tourists, who marvel at the ruins at the bottom of the Edersee that have been revealed by the receding water, do not make up for the falling number of guests.
In order to defuse the conflict, the Edersee is filled to the brim over the autumn and winter. This can be tricky if water has to be drained from the overflowing reservoir at the same time as it is raining heavily. In such situations, the risk of flooding can increase, although the dam is intended to protect against flooding.
The Weser Waterways and Shipping Authority and the Kassel Regional Council, together with other experts, want to investigate how to store as much water as possible in the Eder Dam at the start of the season and at the same time ensure seasonal flood protection. According to a press release from March, initial results are expected at the end of 2027. Water management is a long-term matter.
