There is no doubt that the deep groundwater is “the iron reserve for the future”, as Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber (FW) puts it so beautifully. So it doesn’t just have to be strictly protected. But it must also remain untouched as much as possible. The last dry years in particular have shown that groundwater is a finite commodity even in water-rich Bavaria.
But it’s not jokes and frolicking that cause drinking water suppliers like the Rottenburger Group to tap ever deeper groundwater. It is sheer hardship, because further up you will no longer find any groundwater that is unrestrictedly suitable for drinking water. The nitrate and other pollutants from intensive agriculture do a great job, one could say cynically. And that will be the case as long as there are farmers who do not want to leave stables with thousands of fattening places, and politics accepts that.
The protection of the groundwater and intensive agriculture with its enormous accumulation of liquid manure and the gigantic consumption of artificial fertilizers do not go together. This is not only shown by the analyzes by agricultural and groundwater experts. Even politicians from the CSU and Free Voters are now saying that – if you don’t quote them publicly.
Keep fewer fattening animals
Those who want clean groundwater in particularly polluted regions such as the Landshut area have only one choice: they must ensure that fewer fattening animals are kept there. Because where there are fewer pigs and other farm animals, there is not only less manure. It also needs less maize and other fodder and therefore less artificial fertilizer.
And in regions where the groundwater still halfway meets the requirements, you have to ensure that outgrowths like in the Landshut region do not arise at all. This not only requires farmers who are looking for alternatives to growth. But clear statements from politics. In any case, a new leaflet for the protection of deep groundwater is not enough.