In agriculture as well as in private gardens, the water requirement is currently increasing drastically. The German Association of Towns and Municipalities warns that this could become a "real problem" in some regions. To ensure that the supply does not reach its limits, private individuals should also think sustainably.
The general manager of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, Gerd Landsberg, has warned against unnecessary water consumption in view of the ongoing drought. The "drastically increasing" water demand in agriculture and in private households is problematic, Landsberg told the "Handelsblatt". Especially the garden irrigation and the filling of larger pools with tap water in the summer months could become a "real problem". Lawn sprinklers distributed up to 800 liters of drinking water in one hour.
"That can push the supply infrastructure to its limits in some regions," Landsberg told the newspaper. Awareness must therefore be created for a more sustainable use of water as a resource. "Private individuals should also collect rainwater as far as possible," advised Landsberg. "The good old rain barrel should not be abolished, but reactivated." This could contribute to the fact that "municipal bans on use" would not even be necessary.
Depending on the region, additional interconnected networks and long-distance pipelines are also necessary to compensate for regional differences in water availability, said Landsberg. However, it must be clear to everyone that, for example, long-distance water pipelines with a length of more than 100 kilometers would not be built in one or two years. "We therefore also need an investment acceleration law for municipal water management," demanded the managing director. The construction of new dams should not be a taboo subject, even if the planning and implementation takes years.