Water Abstraction from Rivers Banned: Cologne and Münster District Governments Respond to Drought

Affected Rivers and Background

The situation is also coming to a head in the Münster district government area. Parts of the Ems had a water depth of less than ten centimeters, according to the authority. The Münster district government announced that the ban would be lifted as soon as water levels recovered sustainably.

The drought in North Rhine-Westphalia has been putting pressure on gauges for weeks. The Rhine is reaching the lowest June water level since records began, according to the Cologne district government. Rivers and streams could only recover through prolonged rainfall, according to the authorities' assessment.

The Cologne general order initially applies until the end of September. Whether it will be lifted before autumn will essentially depend on the weather development, the authorities said. The Ems ban is also expressly time-limited and tied to the recovery of gauges.

Exceptions and Fines

What remains permitted? According to the Münster district government, scooping water with buckets or watering cans as well as the direct watering of livestock in the river continues to be allowed. This is intended to ensure the supply of smaller needs without allowing pumps and larger abstraction technology.

The legal consequences are significant: Violations face heavy fines. Specifically, the district governments can impose fines of up to 50,000 euros if applicants abstract water from the affected waters using pumps or hoses, for example.

The background to the bans is a prolonged dry period that has lowered river gauges to extreme levels in large parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. Authorities in several districts and cities had therefore gradually imposed restrictions since June, which are now being placed on a broader basis with the new general orders from the two district governments.

Drought and Gauge Levels in NRW

For the affected municipalities, the regulation means an intervention in the previous practice of agricultural irrigation, garden watering, and process water requirements. It falls in a phase in which farmers, horticultural businesses, and municipalities must already respond to rising temperatures and a lack of rain.

The district governments announced that they would continue to monitor the development of gauge levels. A lifting of the bans would be possible as soon as sufficient rainfall stabilized the rivers and streams in the affected regions, the authorities stated unanimously.

The municipal umbrella organizations and water suppliers have been informed, according to the district governments. The Chamber of Agriculture was also involved to coordinate the effects on irrigation networks and agricultural land along the affected rivers.