Munich bans lawn watering and filling of private pools with immediate effect

The bans at a glance

According to a city spokesperson, daily water consumption recently rose to more than 360 million liters. Normally, the average value is around 300 million liters. The rainfall forecast for the coming days is not expected to be sufficient to ease the water situation.

Specifically prohibited are, among other things, the extraction of water for filling and operating private pools and bathing basins, fountains, water play facilities, and water barrels. Watering and irrigating privately used house gardens and allotments – including shrubs, hedges, perennials, flower beds, and ornamental plants – is also banned between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Watering of lawn areas and other green spaces that are not used commercially or publicly is likewise off limits. Exempted are sports fields, agricultural and forestry areas, and cemeteries. Also banned are washing private vehicles outside commercial car washes and hosing down or watering private terraces, walls, streets, roofs, and courtyard or pathway surfaces – for example with high-pressure cleaners.

Scope: Munich and seven surrounding municipalities

Also prohibited is the extraction of water from surface waters within the city limits of Munich for the stated purposes. Exemptions include, among others, watering livestock and agricultural needs, as well as withdrawals in which the water is returned entirely to the water body.

The general decree also applies to seven surrounding municipalities supplied by Stadtwerke München: Aschheim, Garching, Neubiberg, Neuried, Oberschleißheim, Unterföhring, and Unterhaching. This was announced by the Landratsamt of the adjacent Munich district; within the district itself there are currently no restrictions, but the office is calling on the population to save water.

Krause appealed to citizens to "sich an die Regeln zu halten, damit sich die Grundwasserpegel erholen. Wasser ist unser kostbarstes Lebensmittel, lassen Sie uns damit sorgsam umgehen". The Referat für Klima- und Umweltschutz and Stadtwerke München were simultaneously commissioned to develop a water strategy "um die Wasserversorgung der Stadt München vor dem Hintergrund sich verändernder klimatischer Bedingungen wie anhaltender Trockenheit und Hitzeperioden dauerhaft zu gewährleisten".

Looking at Bavaria: Other municipalities respond

The situation in Bavaria is tense: numerous other municipalities in the Free State have called on their citizens to save water. At the end of June, the city of Landau an der Isar in Lower Bavaria had already issued a watering ban.

The state capital is thus responding to a development that has escalated since spring: low groundwater levels, lack of rainfall, and simultaneously increased consumption have shrunk reserves. The bans now imposed are intended to reduce pressure on the drinking water supply until sufficient rainfall refills the reserves.

The municipal public order offices are tasked with carrying out inspections. Residents who are unsure which activities are still permitted can contact the City of Munich or Stadtwerke. The administration announced that it would reassess the situation daily and lift the decree early if conditions ease.