The law to introduce a water cent in Bavaria, which has been announced for years, is to be introduced into the cabinet by the summer break at the latest. “The water cent is coming. For me it is a central building block for the future task of water supply. That’s why I spoke out in favor of a water cent from the start,” said Bavaria’s Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber (Free Voters) of the German Press Agency in Munich. According to reports, it is still unclear whether the fee for the extraction of groundwater really has to be paid from this year onwards and if so, how much.
The water cent is already available in 13 of 16 federal states, some for many years. Anyone who pumps out water must pay a fee. Depending on the country, the levy level varies greatly and ranges up to around 30 cents per cubic meter.
When forming a government at the end of 2023, the CSU and Free Voters agreed to introduce a water cent in this legislature. “We oppose any form of privatization. In order to underline the preciousness of our drinking water and to protect it even better, we are introducing a dedicated water cent. We use the income exclusively to finance water management projects and measures for effective water protection and sustainable water management.” , it says in the coalition agreement.
The planned introduction was preceded by a long debate in the Free State, during which the state government, in the person of Prime Minister Markus Söder and his CSU, was only able to overcome its initial rejection with difficulty. In previous years, the CSU had categorically rejected the introduction because it did not want any additional burdens for people and companies in the country.
In 2021, Söder announced the introduction in a government statement. At that time, he spoke of an average annual cost per person of around five euros: “This is a small contribution that provides an incentive to use water carefully and economically. At the same time, we are financing water conservation.” Glauber also said: “The issue of water security is a top priority in Bavaria. The water cent is intended to make an important contribution to a secure water supply for the people.”
From the perspective of the Greens in the state parliament, the water cent must come immediately. Because of the ongoing discussions on the 2024/2025 double budget, the schedule now presented is too late “to make it concrete in these two years,” said the parliamentary group’s budget policy spokeswoman, Claudia Köhler. The state government’s approach does not do justice to the dramatic situation in which water as a resource finds itself. This is also reflected in the fact that the government does not know how much groundwater is being used here.
At the same time, in times of increasingly tight budgets, the income is also important so that Bavaria can better refinance its water problem. In order to get a better handle on the sometimes threatening drought in Franconia, for example, the state government wants to build a new long-distance pipeline system. With this water clasp, the vital water is supposed to come from the south and west to the dry regions. Anyone who knows how difficult it is to build a power line suspects that the multi-million dollar project is not a sure-fire success, not only financially but also logistically.
On the other hand, the protection of Bavaria’s groundwater is of particular importance in times of drought and thus comes into a direct distribution conflict between the interests of the population and commercial interests, as Glauber also said: “Deep groundwater represents the iron reserve for supplying the population It may only be taken to the extent absolutely necessary after the relevant permission has been granted.”
The battles over the distribution of water have already begun
This exact conflict is currently evident in Treuchtlingen, Central Franconia, where the Altmühltaler Mineralbrunnen company, part of the Aldi Nord Group, wants to develop a new water source for commercial use. The wells are expected to be completed by summer, and 250,000 cubic meters of water per year will then be withdrawn to be sold in discount stores. However, it is currently unclear whether and to what extent the company is allowed to withdraw water. So far, the company has been pumping out about the same amount per year via deep wells.
In any case, environmentalists are already alarmed: “It cannot be the case that private companies enrich themselves from a common good such as water, especially since the battles over the distribution of water have already begun in Bavaria,” said the federal nature conservation representative Martin Geilhufe . At the same time, environmentalists fear irreparable damage to the environment and nature.
The Ministry of the Environment also emphasized that it had always been critical of the Altmühltaler company’s previous use of deep groundwater. “On the initiative of the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district office and the Ansbach water management office, a joint concept is currently being developed for possible savings potential from the sensitive deep groundwater for the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district.”