Economists Recommend Harmonized Water Tariffs to Mitigate the Issue
Berlin, Germany – As the Spree River struggles with a looming water crisis, the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) has proposed a uniform increase in water abstraction charges to the level of the Berlin groundwater price. According to a joint study with the Technical University of Berlin, this move could reduce the amount of water taken from the river by up to 16 percent.
The main consumers of the Spree’s water are industry and commerce in the surrounding area, which could be incentivized to adopt a more efficient use of the scarce resource through the increased charges.
For years, the brown coal mining in the Lausitz region has allowed a higher demand for water by pumping groundwater into the Spree, a situation that will cease with the end of coal production in the 2030s and the subsequent flooding of the mines. As a result, water conflicts are looming for the Spree’s neighbors in Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony.
Experts have long called for a joint water strategy among the states, a demand that has been voiced for years.