2024-03-22 05:00:45
“Dried up lakes and withered fields, like we saw last year, are just a first foretaste,” warned Sebastian Theissing-Matei from Greenpeace Austria. In the summer of 2023, not only did the Zicksee in Burgenland completely dry out, the drought also caused damage to agriculture worth 170 million euros.
The environmental protection organization therefore presented a five-point plan to combat water shortages. To combat the water shortage, a population register is intended to provide transparency in consumption. According to the Greenpeace proposal, water withdrawals by industry, agriculture and water suppliers should be recorded there.
APA/Hans Klaus Techt Not a pretty sight: the Zicksee was completely dry in May 2023
In addition, according to the NGO, plans are needed for regions threatened by drought, who can access how much water in times of crisis, as well as a reduction target for water consumption by 2030. A funding program to combat waste and a price for water extraction for industrial companies were also called for.
SPÖ application for sustainable water management
The drinking water security plan of the Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible for water, does not contain a single concrete measure that would actually improve the situation, criticized Greenpeace. Industry, as the sector with the largest water consumption in Austria, remains completely unmentioned, as does agriculture. Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP) must present a plan that also holds industry and agriculture accountable and secures the water supply in Austria, demanded Theissing-Matei.
Julia Herr, deputy club chairwoman of the SPÖ, took up the Greenpeace initiative and announced a corresponding motion in parliament, according to which water withdrawals by agriculture and industry should be recorded in a kind of population register. In addition, the approval period for water withdrawals for irrigation purposes should be reduced from the current 25 years to six years, said Herr.
Global 2000 for stricter limits for drinking water
On the occasion of World Water Day, the environmental protection organization Global 2000 is campaigning for higher drinking water limits for perennial chemicals (PFAS). PFAS are a group of more than 4,700 man-made chemicals that are extremely persistent and are increasingly accumulating in people and the environment. They can be found in cosmetics, outdoor clothing, disposable tableware and coated pans.
At the end of 2020, the EU Commission had already defined new limit values for perennial chemicals in drinking water in the revised EU Drinking Water Directive, which, however, did not take into account the risk assessment of four other PFAS by the EU Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The result is EU limit values that allow exposure to chemicals in drinking water that would many times exceed the “tolerable weekly intake” of 4.4 nanograms per kilogram of body weight set by the EFSA, according to Global 2000.
Greens: Maximum land use of 2.5 hectares per day
According to Global 2000, Austria implemented the EU directive without further correction, unlike Germany, Denmark and Sweden, which set even stricter limit values. Global 2000 therefore called on Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) to revise the Drinking Water Ordinance in order to set safe limit values following the example of other European member states.
Astrid Rössler, environmental spokeswoman for the Green Party, commented on World Water Day regarding soil protection strategy. In a press release, she advocated a binding target of a maximum of 2.5 hectares of land use per day. “Because only healthy soil can secure our underground drinking water reservoirs in the long term. “The federal states need to take committed action to protect water as the basis for human existence,” said Rössler.
Warning of loss of biodiversity
The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna drew attention to the importance of protecting aquatic habitats in Austria in a press release with alarming figures. They are much more threatened than terrestrial ones, but the loss of biodiversity beneath the water surface is often less noticed.
Peter Pfeiffer The crayfish is a rarely seen animal in Austria
“More than 50 percent of Austrian rivers do not meet the criteria for good ecological status according to the EU Water Framework Directive, and even 85 percent of the floodplains have disappeared today. The majority of the moors – a full 94 percent – are also in a questionable condition,” says Stefan Fehl from the Institute for Hydrobiology and Water Management at BOKU.
A recent study showed the state of the fauna and flora in rivers and lakes in Austria: The level of danger to freshwater inhabitants in Austria is 100 percent for crayfish, while for bank-dwelling fauna, such as spiders and short-winged beetles, it is 60 percent 90 percent, followed by large mussels (73 percent), fish (62 percent), amphibians (60 percent) and aquatic plants (50 percent).
BOKU: Hydroelectric power plants responsible for danger
Among the causes of the threat, the use of hydropower with over 5,000 systems and the regulation of rivers were particularly mentioned. At the same time, Austria is dependent on hydropower for energy: around 60 percent of domestic electricity generation is covered by hydropower, according to the Austrian energy industry.
According to BOKU, the effects of urbanization, shipping, drinking water production and irrigation on biodiversity are somewhat less pronounced. But the climate crisis is expected to increase these effects. “A primary goal is therefore to preserve the remaining intact, free-flowing sections of the waters, of which only eight percent still exist,” said Dirt. Revitalization projects should also be carried out. This is the only way endangered species can survive.
Environmental umbrella organization: Accelerate the expansion of renewables
The environmental umbrella organization also moved in this direction. He appealed to the federal government to tighten up the “Renewable Energy Directive” (RED III) at the national level, which was passed at the end of last year, in order to protect domestic waters. The revised directive is intended to further accelerate approval procedures for the expansion of renewables, for example by eliminating environmental and natural impact assessments.
“As welcome as the amendment is with regard to solar and photovoltaic systems or heat pumps, the consequences for rivers, landscapes and endangered species are disastrous,” said Franz Maier, President of the environmental umbrella organization. In Austria, only 14 percent of the rivers are ecologically intact, and there are hardly any longer free flow stretches.
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