Dietmar Woidke (l, SPD), Minister President of Brandenburg, and Kai Wegner (CDU), Governing Mayor of Berlin.
© dpa
The neighboring states of Berlin and Brandenburg want to establish a common basis for dealing with water.
Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and Brandenburg's Minister President Dietmar Woidke (SPD) announced a joint water strategy on Tuesday. This topic is "incredibly important for the shared region", said Wegner in Berlin. "We must also take a much closer look at waste disposal and the sewage treatment plants".
The Berlin CDU/SPD Senate and the Brandenburg state government have presented a concrete plan of action. According to Wegner, it is to be adopted at the beginning of 2025. Both states had already agreed in principle to work on a "Capital Region 2050 Water Strategy" last year. This involves water supply and environmentally friendly water management.
Brandenburg's head of government, Woidke, named more efficient wastewater management as a goal. The question is "how can we manage to stop dumping all the treated wastewater into rivers?" asked Woidke. The aim is to contribute to groundwater recharge. He cited the US electric car manufacturer Tesla as an example. Tesla does not want to need any new fresh water for a planned expansion of its plant in Grünheide. According to the company, it wants to completely recycle the wastewater from production. The state of Brandenburg is one of the driest and lowest-precipitation regions in Germany. Water suppliers expect consumption to rise and fear that they will no longer be able to cover it with existing water rights.