Environment Minister Günther: Water is a mega issue for Saxony

Saxon Environment Minister Wolfram Günther (Greens) sees water management as a priority task for the Free State. "Water is a mega issue for Saxony and a focus beyond this legislature. Man-made climate change is causing an increase in weather extremes, the alternation between long periods of drought and heavy rainfall and flooding. This is increasing. And we are seeing that again right now," Günther told the German Press Agency in Dresden.

Saxony is in a very good position compared to other states when it comes to dealing with floods. "This is of course a result of the painful floods since 2002, but there is no such thing as absolute security. Flood protection is an ongoing task."

According to Günther, lignite mining has severely disturbed the water balance. "We have to repair that. This is also a generational task that we are fundamentally tackling now that we are in the middle of the coal phase-out. At the same time, water quality is a major issue. "Only around seven percent of our watercourses in Saxony are in good ecological condition. That is alarmingly low. That's why we are renaturalizing rivers and streams up and down the country. If we fail to do so, we will not only have an ecological problem, but we will also face high fines from the EU after 2027."

The issue of water is not just about a secure drinking water supply across the board, said Günther. "Agriculture and forests are just as dependent on it as business settlements, microelectronics, the entire structural change and the hydrogen industry. That's why we will soon be going to the cabinet with our own action plan for water."

With regard to flood protection, Saxony had learned the right lessons after the flood disaster in 2002, upgraded facilities, created retention areas and promoted municipal flood protection measures. At the same time, the information, forecasting and alarm system has been significantly improved. All of this prevented damage estimated at around 450 million euros during the extreme floods of 2013. Since 2002, Saxony has invested a total of around 3.3 billion euros in flood protection.

A lesson for the future is to further improve ecological flood protection, said Günther. Rivers and floodplains must be renaturalized and the rivers must be given more space. Natural floodplains, relocated dykes, renaturalized floodplains and river courses are important and sustainable components of flood protection. "During dry periods, they keep water in the landscape; during heavy rainfall, they prevent damage from flooding."