Fight for water: Companies and communities in Treuchtlingen in conflict!

Fight for water: Companies and communities in Treuchtlingen in conflict!

In Treuchtlingen, a region in Middle Franconia, there is currently a tense situation regarding groundwater use. The Altmühltaler company and several public water suppliers extract groundwater from the covered sandstone Keuper. But these withdrawals significantly exceed the amount of water reproduced, as the Ansbach Water Management Office states. As things stand, more water resources are being withdrawn than can be replenished. This raises questions about future water supplies, especially in times of climate change, which threatens water availability in many regions.

The Federal Nature Conservation Union has already criticized this practice and demands that water supplies should not be exploited for commercial purposes. At the same time, a study by the Federal Environment Agency shows that around 70 percent of drinking water in Germany comes from groundwater. Therefore, in-depth knowledge of groundwater recharge and the water extraction process is essential to ensure sustainable management. This knowledge becomes particularly important during dry periods, as these phases can often result in regional bottlenecks in water availability, which in turn affects usage conflicts.

Precautionary measures and legal developments

The Bavarian government is planning a new law that will give priority to water withdrawals for public drinking water supplies. Decisions on applications for water abstraction in Treuchtlingen should be made by the end of the year. An accompanying law, which will be debated starting in October, would impose a levy of 10 cents per cubic meter of groundwater withdrawn. There is also an allowance of 5,000 cubic meters per year for water suppliers and companies. These measures aim to improve the water management situation and use water resources responsibly.

Altmühltaler itself plans to reduce the extraction from the sandstone Keuper to a maximum of 50,000 cubic meters per year and instead extract up to 200,000 cubic meters from the iron sandstone. Other water suppliers have also already prepared their applications to reduce withdrawals. The aim is to use water responsibly in order to take into account the needs of all user groups and to ensure that the water supply is secure for future generations.

Sustainable water management is key

Sustainable water use is necessary not only to meet the basic needs of the population, but also to protect ecological systems. Experts emphasize the relevance of integrated water resource management. This aims to coordinate the development and management of water resources and soil as climate change increasingly causes irregular water availability. GIZ emphasizes that scarce water resources must be managed in such a way that all stakeholders are served, without overuse and resource consumption.

A comprehensive understanding and responsible management of our water resources is therefore a community project. If we're not careful, it could soon literally and figuratively burn our tongues.

For further information on groundwater resources and current developments, you can read here: Market mirror, Federal Environment Agency and GIZ.