Berlin (German news agency) – The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) considers restrictions on water consumption to be possible in view of the drought. The legal instruments for this are available, “Counties can issue so-called general decrees in the event of water shortages in order to restrict certain uses,” said the head of the Water and Soil department at the UBA, Christoph Schulte, the “Handelsblatt”.
Water saving measures have long been a realistic scenario for the Association of Towns and Municipalities. “Climate change has reached the water supply,” said managing director Gerd Landsberg of the “Handelsblatt”. With regard to possible relief measures, he referred to the past year, when heat and drought had required additional measures in the region.
“Water consumption has been restricted in individual counties, for example by prohibiting lawn sprinkling, filling pools or washing cars.” In many places, for example in parts of Lower Saxony and Hesse, such restrictions have been in place for weeks. Further cuts cannot be ruled out.
The dry and hot summers of recent years show which countermeasures can still be taken. “So it was no longer allowed to irrigate from rivers at low water levels in order to protect the communities in the waters,” said UBA expert Schulte. “In some regions there were also restrictions and instructions on the use of drinking water in order to reduce peak values and relieve the infrastructure.”