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Water shortage in Brandenburg: Districts impose drastic restrictions!
Districts in Brandenburg, including the Spree-Neisse, are preparing water withdrawal restrictions due to impending water shortages.
Water shortage in Brandenburg: Districts impose drastic restrictions!
The water shortage in Brandenburg is becoming increasingly severe. More and more cities and districts in the country are being forced to take strict measures to restrict water withdrawal from rivers, lakes and wells. In large cities such as Potsdam, Brandenburg an der Havel, Havelland and Ostprignitz-Ruppin, general orders are already being prepared, which are primarily intended to regulate water consumption. In many regions, especially in the southeast of the country, appropriate regulations are already in force to counteract the threatening situation, as [berliner-abendblatt.de](https://berliner-abendblatt.de/berlin-news/wasserentnahme-kreise- Preparen-einschraenkungen-vor-id294771) reports.
A total of eight districts, including Spree-Neiße, Cottbus, Elbe-Elster, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Dahme-Spreewald, Märkisch-Oderland, Barnim and Potsdam-Mittelmark, currently have general orders on abstraction from surface waters. In addition, similar regulations are being prepared in four other districts. The current restrictions are a response to the foreseeable worsening of water shortages, which is partly caused by the current weather situation. This leads to very low flows in some rivers.
Environmental protection in focus
The aim of these measures is clear: to counteract the further decline in water supply and to secure the water ecological functions. Because it's not just in Brandenburg that the water is on the brink. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), in 2021 the ecological status of only 37 percent of surface waters in the EU was classified as “good” or “very good”. A warning sign for all water dwellers, because the questionable water quality is threatened by numerous factors, including industrial chemicals and agricultural residues that enter the water bodies through rain and surface runoff, as tagesspiegel.de summarizes.
These challenges can be observed not only locally, but across Europe. The European Parliament has therefore called for comprehensive enforcement of existing regulations, such as the Water Framework Directive. Urgent measures to reduce harmful chemicals and adjust limit values in drinking water are essential to ensure long-term water health.
A shared responsibility
The developments in Brandenburg are only part of a larger, much more complex problem. The fact that human activities have a significant impact on water resources requires a shift in thinking across society. In order to improve the quality of water, these challenges must also be taken seriously: microplastics, pharmaceutical residues and chemical pesticides are increasingly in the public eye because human and environmental health are at stake, as data from europarl.europa.eu show.
It is expected that water withdrawal will have to be further regulated in the coming weeks and months. Citizens are asked to adhere to the regulations and reconsider their water consumption. Because one thing is clear: water is a precious commodity and protecting it is a top priority.