Water management to become major challenge after end of coal mining in east Germany

The legacy of lignite mining is posing great challenges to the water management of eastern German coal mining area Lusatia. The issue could also affect the water supply of the country’s nearby capital Berlin, news agency dpa reported in an article published by water industry trade magazine Euwid. Re-establishing a functioning water cycle in the region that straddles several German states could take up to 100 years and will come with significant costs, said Regina Heinecke-Schmitt, who works on water management in the state of Saxony’s environment ministry.

The effects of climate change would compound the already tense situation in the region, where draining ground water out of open pit mines for decades has disrupted natural water cycles. “We have to factor in that we will see climatic changes in parallel” to renaturation efforts, Heinecke-Schmitt said, citing higher evaporation and different water inflow rates than initially assumed.

Concepts to remedy the supply challenges in states including Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin include diverting water from the river Elbe to the river Spree, which flows through Lusatia. This had caused worries in distant city state Hamburg, which depends on constant water levels in the Elbe to operate Germany’s largest port.

Once coal mining operations come to an end, which Germany plans to achieve by 2038 at the very latest, drained parts in the vast coal mining area could start filling up with water again. These losses are expected to alter water levels of the Spree, which also flows through Berlin and ultimately into the Elbe.