Federal Nature Conservation Association: All water users in Bavaria should pay – Bavaria

In the discussion about the introduction of a general user fee for water, the Federal Nature Conservation Association in Bavaria formulated its own demands that clearly go beyond the different positions within the state government. Like municipalities and water suppliers before it, the BN also requires all withdrawals of groundwater or surface water to be registered using meters. In its concept for the so-called water cent, the CSU has so far relied on mere annual reports from those who pump water from the depths or divert it from streams and rivers for their purposes. In the biggest point of contention within the government coalition, the BN sides with the CSU: There should be no exceptions for agriculture, as the Free Voters want to make, just as there should be no exceptions for other commercial users.

Only those who take water somewhere for private use should be allowed to continue to do so free of charge up to an amount of 100 cubic meters per year, explained BN water expert Christine Margraf in a press conference on Friday. The water cent would indirectly affect customers of municipal utilities and other suppliers. With a basic price of 7 cents per cubic meter, as envisaged by the BN, an average four-person household would be burdened with around 15 euros per year, according to Margraf.

Also because less and less groundwater has recently been formed during the climate crisis, the mostly particularly pure water from deeper aquifers should not be touched at all, but should be preserved for future generations. That is why the BN concept provides for 10 cents per cubic meter of deep groundwater for public water suppliers. Companies that bottle deep groundwater as mineral water should pay ten times as much.

So far, companies in Bavaria have been allowed to pump and use any amount of water free of charge. The Free State is one of three out of 16 German federal states that do not yet charge anything for this. In addition to agriculture, large consumers such as the chemical industry in particular benefit from this. Under growing pressure from municipalities and environmental associations, the state government announced that it would introduce the water cent in 2023.

In this context, BN state chairman Richard Mergner particularly emphasized the polluter pays principle. Water must be priced appropriately so that it is not wasted. The BN also wants to ask power plant operators to pay. Water for cooling systems should therefore be charged just as much as the huge quantities that flow through the turbines of hydroelectric power plants. The cubic meter price that the BN stipulates here is minimal, but according to Christine Margraf, overall it would “lead to considerable sums, which we also consider to be necessary”. For the many systems that do not comply with all legal requirements, up to five times this price should be charged.

This Monday there will be another meeting of nature conservation associations with representatives of both government parties on the topic. The BN was only invited to this on Thursday, i.e. at extremely short notice, criticized its state chairman Mergner. There are also no written templates. The state government has already held similar meetings with representatives of the municipalities and the farmers’ association. A few weeks ago, the Bavarian Greens presented their own concept for the water cent, which is partly very close to that of the BN, but does not correspond to it in all respects.

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