Drinking water shortages are no longer a far-fetched scenario in the wake of climate change. Read here to find out how serious the situation really is.

In an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, Armin Schuster, President of the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), warned of drinking water shortages as a result of climate change. Read on to findout how this will come about, how scarce drinking water could be a possible scenario in the future and how serious the situation really is.

As a rule, drinking water of very good quality flows from German taps. It is closely meshed in this country and is the most strictly controlled foodstuff. And it can be taken for granted at any time within your own four walls. However, climate change has already shown in some municipalities in the past that scarce drinking water in our latitudes could no longer be a far-fetched scenario in the future.

Prominent example: Lauenau. The municipality in Lower Saxony with around 4,000 inhabitants ran out of drinking water for a short time in August 2020. On the one hand, because the rainfall was too low. On the other hand, because the residents used more water during the coronavirus pandemic, for example to water their gardens and fill their pools. As a result, the administration called on its citizens to save water. The fire department also distributed service water from tankers at public collection points. In 2020, there were also municipalities in Hesse where suppliers warned of drinking water shortages and even water reservoirs ran empty.

German water consumption in figures

The average person needs between two and three liters of drinking water. This is the amount they should drink to ensure their survival. The average person in Germany actually consumes around 125 liters of water per day. Around 5 liters are used for drinking and preparing food. The lion’s share of over 100 liters is accounted for by personal hygiene and toilet flushing. However, if we also include total consumption from the industrial and agricultural sectors, we arrive at a figure of around 4,000 liters of water per capita per day. In other words, more than 30 times the direct, personal consumption.

While flood disasters have immediately visible and noticeable effects, drought disasters occur gradually over years and are hardly noticed at first. The subjective perception of the weather can also obscure the actual development of the quantities of drinking water available in the groundwater reservoirs. While rain did not seem to be a scarce commodity in many regions in spring 2021, Germany is currently in the fourth year of drought in a row.

In 2018 and 2019, the heat and lack of rain began to drastically reduce the annually usable and renewable quantities of groundwater and surface water, known as the water supply. According to the Federal Environment Agency, Germany’s water supply averaged over 30 years is 188 billion square meters per year. In 2018, however, it was only 119 billion square meters. There was also a rain deficit in the following years. Like the last seven springs, spring 2021 was drier than the long-term average.

If a soil is too dry for a long period of time and thus also dries out in deeper layers, a vicious circle begins. The short and medium-term water absorption capacity of the soil decreases. Rainwater that falls on dry soil runs off faster than it can wet deeper layers of soil.

This is a particular problem for agriculture and can lead to competition with the public water supply for the amount of water available – so far temporarily and locally limited. And not only that. If adequate amounts of rain fail to fall, as has been the case over the past three years, soils can compress more quickly and be eroded by wind. In addition, plants may no longer be able to fully absorb the fertilizers applied. In addition to crop failures, this can also result in the leaching of accumulated nitrogen and phosphorus salts into the underlying groundwater and thus a reduction in the quality of drinking water in a municipality.

The already suffering forest is also put under additional pressure by dry years and falling groundwater levels. Early leaf fall, branch breakage and reduced resistance to fungal infestation and bark beetles are the result.

Panic not indicated

However, there is no need to panic. In all probability, Germany will not become a desert for many years to come. But a rethink is needed. More mindfulness and perhaps a little gratitude for something that is not a matter of course for almost every second person on earth: running water from the tap. Armin Schuster from BBK summed it up for Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland as follows: “I don’t want to sound the alarm, it’s still too early for that. But a resource-conserving, sustainable use of water and an increased ability of the population to protect themselves and help themselves in extreme weather conditions is already highly advisable today”.

Click here to go to the BBK homepage.

Read more about the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research’s drought monitor here.