Water supply in NRW - Planned priority for drinking water has met with criticism
The state government is planning the drinking water supply in North Rhine-Westphalia in the future to have priority over other water withdrawals. But the draft law is being criticized, and not just from environmentalists. Representatives from industry, business and agriculture fear that they will be disadvantaged when it comes to water abstraction.
What does the amendment provide?
The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia would like, she says, to strengthen the drinking water supply. Specifically, it should have priority over other water withdrawals.
Because the drought has increased in recent years, and as a result there are more and more conflicts between public supply, namely drinking water, but also the economy, industry and agricultural use, for example irrigation. And that's why the state government said we have to set up a kind of hierarchy here.
Briefly about the background: the Federal Environment Agency, citing data from the Federal Statistical Office in 2016, calculated that a little more than half of the water consumption is accounted for by the energy industry, almost a quarter by mining and manufacturing and the public water supply, e.g. drinking water, are scarce 21 percent off. Agriculture is in the single-digit percentage. This means that this approximately 20 percent drinking water supply should always be guaranteed.
Is water scarcity a real threat?
A few days ago, a swimming pool in East Westphalia had to close briefly because there was a lack of water. In the last summer alone, balance sheets show, the water levels in many dams in North Rhine-Westphalia fell sharply in some cases. And experts expect that this situation can actually worsen in the course of climate change - that the groundwater level will drop and we will have problems with drinking water.
Who is criticism from and why?
The problem is that this change is not only intended to strengthen the drinking water supply, but also to change other points. In the future, for example, strips of water should be dispensed with and the extraction of raw materials in drinking water protection areas should be permitted again. Almost all environmental associations in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia criticize this in unison. Explanation: Strips of water bodies protect water bodies from being poisoned by agriculture, for example with fertilizers or pesticides. If they fall away, there is no such protection. And water usage rights, for example the extraction of raw materials in drinking water protection areas, that naturally sounds very dramatic for the environmental associations.
Is the amendment to the law a sham?
With regard to the waterfront strips, the state government says that this is already provided for in the fertilizer ordinance, that is already regulated there. But that's only partially true. Yes, they are regulated there, but these waterfront strips only have to be set up on slopes where the water can then flow down the slope.
The state government insists that it really only wants to protect the drinking water. And now expert hearings in the committees will have to take another close look at that.
Are there any plans for water supply at the federal level?
Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze has announced a national water strategy for 2021. Here, too, it should be a question of establishing a kind of hierarchy for the use of water, similar to what NRW is now planning. Because the problems are likely to worsen in the coming years, say experts. The supply of drinking water must always be guaranteed even when the groundwater level drops.
But Schulze said it would be exciting after the drinking water was provided. It would then have to be discussed whether, for example, a swimming pool or watering gardens should be given priority. Agriculture has already said here that we are also important. We produce the food and have to rain some of our land. There will still be a lot of discussion.
