Groundwater Levels of the Main Aquifer and Panke Valley Aquifer 2016

Map Description

The present groundwater contour map describes the groundwater situation of the Main Aquifer with violet groundwater isolines and the Panke Valley Aquifer in north-eastern Berlin with blue isolines. The interval between the groundwater isolines is 0.5 m. These show the piezometric surface area of the unconfined and confined groundwater, respectively (see also Fig. 3). In areas of the Main Aquifer with confined groundwater, the groundwater contours are displayed in broken lines. In areas with no main groundwater aquifer, or with an isolated main groundwater aquifer of low thickness, no groundwater isolines are displayed. Those areas are shown with black dots.

The map is based on the topographical General Map of Berlin, scale of 1:50,000, in grid format, and the geological outline for the Berlin state territory, at a scale of 1:50,000 (2007), which was derived from the geological General Map of Berlin and Surrounding Areas, scale of 1:100,000. In addition, the appropriate support points (groundwater measurement points and surface-water levels) as well as the individual waterworks are indicated, with their active wells and water conservation areas.

Differing regulations exist in the Johannisthal water conservation area established on January 18, 2013. The respective areas are shown on the map Water Conservation District Johannisthal (Preliminary Order).

Hydrogeological Situation

On the plateaus, the main aquifer is extensively covered by the glacial till and bolder clay (aquitards) of the ground moraines. Wherever the piezometric surface of the main aquifer lies within such an aquitard, groundwater conditions are confined. In sandy segments above the till or in islands, near-surface groundwater may be formed, which is also called stratum water (see also Fig. 3). After extreme precipitation, it may rise to the surface. The groundwater levels of these locally highly differentiated areas have not been separately ascertained and portrayed.In the Panke Valley, on the northern side of the spillway, the Barnim Plateau, a major independent coherent aquifer has developed. It is located above the main aquifer, which is covered by the glacial till of the ground moraine (see also Figs. 7 & 8). On the present map, this aquifer is indicated by separate blue groundwater isolines. A spur of the glacial till toward the Warsaw-Berlin Glacial Spillway creates an interlock of the Panke Valley Aquifer with the Main Aquifer there.

For more information, see the Groundwater Brochure:

www.berlin.de/sen/uvk/_assets/umwelt/wasser-und-geologie/publikationen-und-merkblaetter/grundwasser-broschuere.pdf (only in German)

Current Situation in May 2016

As a rule, the groundwater incline in Berlin, and hence, too, the flow direction, is from the Barnim and Teltow Plateaus and the Nauen Plate toward the receiving bodies, the Spree and Havel Rivers. Depression cones have formed around the wells at those waterworks in operation during the measurement period, and have sunk the phreatic surface below the level of the neighbouring surface waters. Thus, in addition to inflowing groundwater from the shore side, the water pumped here also includes groundwater formed by infiltration (bank-filtered water) from these surface waters (see also Fig. 4c).

In May 2016, too, the potentiometric surface, which has been lowered in Berlin by drinking-water discharge over the past hundred years, was at a relatively high level compared to 1989 (Limberg et al. 2007: pp. 76 ff.). Areas in the Glacial Spillway in which the groundwater rebounded over this period of time by more than half a meter and by more than one meter, respectively, are shown on the difference map 1989-2012 (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10: Groundwater Rebound in the Glacial Spillway between 1989 and 2012

Fig. 10: Groundwater Rebound in the Glacial Spillway between 1989 and 2012

The reduced raw-water discharge by the Berlin Water Utility since 1989 as a result of the decreased need for drinking and industrial water is responsible for the constant rise of the groundwater level. Moreover, five of the smaller Berlin waterworks (Altglienicke, Friedrichsfelde, Köpenick, Riemeisterfenn and Buch) were shut down altogether in the period from 1991 to 1997. In addition, drinking water production at the two waterworks Johannisthal and Jungfernheide has been discontinued temporarily since September 2001; at the latter, the same has been true for artificial groundwater recharging. However, under the immediate water management measures of the Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment, groundwater is still being discharged at the Johannisthal location in order to support current local waste disposal and construction measures. Likewise at the Jungfernheide location, groundwater was discharged by the Department through the end of 2005. Since January 2006, a private company has performed the groundwater management there.

The Water Conservation Districts of the Buch, Jungfernheide and Altglienicke waterworks were abolished in April 2009.

The overall discharge of raw water by the Berlin Water Utility for public water supply dropped by almost half (43 %) in Berlin over a period of 27 years. In 1989, 378 million cu.m. were discharged, as opposed to 219 million cu.m. in 2002. In 2003, the discharge briefly increased slightly to 226 million cu.m. due to the extremely dry summer. After a further phase of decline, the discharge increased again to 215 million cu.m. in the past year (Fig. 11).

Fig. 11: Drop in the raw-water discharge by the Berlin Water Utility over a 27-year period

Fig. 11: Drop in the raw-water discharge by the Berlin Water Utility over a 27-year period

The development of the groundwater levels from May 2015 through May 2016 is exemplified at four measurement points which are largely unaffected by the withdrawal of water by the waterworks (Fig. 12).

Fig. 12: Four exemplary measurement points: 340 and 5139 in the Glacial Spillway, 777 on the Teltow Plateau, and 5004 on the Barnim Plateau

Fig. 12: Four exemplary measurement points: 340 and 5139 in the Glacial Spillway, 777 on the Teltow Plateau, and 5004 on the Barnim Plateau

The groundwater levels at the two measurement points in the unconfined aquifer of the Glacial Spillway exhibit nearly the natural annual variation with low groundwater levels in autumn and high ones in spring. The amplitude of the hydrographic curve of the groundwater level of Measurement Point 340, which is situated on the outskirts of the city, is pronounced, while that of the inner-city Measurement Point 5139 exhibits an attenuated annual variation. The intermediate rise in the summer of 2015 is due to the above-average July precipitation (Fig. 13 and 15).

Fig. 13: Hydrographic curves of groundwater levels at two measurement stations in the Glacial Spillway, May 15, 2015 to May 15, 2016

Fig. 13: Hydrographic curves of groundwater levels at two measurement stations in the Glacial Spillway, May 15, 2015 to May 15, 2016

By contrast, on the Teltow Plateau and on the Barnim Plateau, the development of the groundwater level at Measurement Points 777 and 5004 in the covered, confined aquifer was similar to the one in the Glacial Spillway during the same period (Fig. 14). However, here the annual variation with the natural fluctuations is not as pronounced as at Measurement Point 340 (Fig. 13).

Fig. 14: Hydrographic curves of groundwater levels at two exemplary measurement points on the plateaus, May 15, 2015 to May 15, 2016

Fig. 14: Hydrographic curves of groundwater levels at two exemplary measurement points on the plateaus, May 15, 2015 to May 15, 2016

From June 2015 through May 2016, the precipitation at the Berlin-Tempelhof Measurement Point was only 19 mm below the long-term mean (1961 to 1990). Thus there were no significant changes in the groundwater level compared to the previous year (Fig. 13 and 14). However, within the year there were deviations from the long-term monthly mean values: Whereas June, August and September were comparatively dry, the precipitation in July, October and November was considerably above the respective monthly mean (Fig. 15).

Fig. 15: Monthly precipitation between May 2015 and May 2016 at the Berlin-Tempelhof Measurement Point, compared with the long-term mean, 1961 through 1990.

Fig. 15: Monthly precipitation between May 2015 and May 2016 at the Berlin-Tempelhof Measurement Point, compared with the long-term mean, 1961 through 1990.

Information on the expected highest groundwater level (EHGL), which is an important basis for planning the design of buildings, can be found in the Environmental Atlas under: /umweltatlas/en/water/groundwater-level-ehgl/2018/maps/artikel.962088.en.php (Limberg et al. 2015).