Well over half of the population is concerned about the current drought. This is the result of a representative survey by the Federal Government for the Environment and Nature Conservation in Germany (BUND), which was published on Thursday. In Bavaria it is 54.9 percent, in Germany 54.7 percent. In addition, according to the survey, more than 63 percent of Bavarians supported higher water withdrawal taxes for companies that use a lot of water. In the event of water shortages, the majority (81.5 percent) would not wash their cars to save water.
“The awareness of the increasingly scarce availability of water is also pronounced in Bavaria,” said the chairman of the Federal Nature Conservation Agency (BN), Richard Mergner, with a view to the results. The BN is a subsidiary of the BUND. “Fortunately, the state government has also recognized the importance of the issue, as the round table on water shortages showed two weeks ago. We hope that all relevant actors will deal with it seriously – including the environmental organizations that have been excluded so far.” After the round table, the state government announced a nationwide drinking water distribution network that will supply Bavaria with water from Lake Constance in the future. In addition, starting next year, a water cent – a levy on the withdrawal of groundwater – will be introduced.
For BN boss Mergner, technical solutions such as the new drinking water distribution network are only half the battle. “The water has to be kept in the area even under natural conditions,” he explained. “For this purpose, floodplain landscapes in particular must be renatured and moors rewetted.” Mergner called the introduction of the water cent “long overdue”. Alongside Thuringia and Hesse, Bavaria is the only federal state that has so far waived such a fee.