Not enough rain: How can Germany cope with drought? – DW – 05/31/2025

DW

31-05-2025

This spring was one of the driest on record in Germany. Agriculture, groundwater, and even retail prices are suffering. Plants and ecosystems are already in drought stress. What can be done?
There's an old German saying that "a cool, wet May fills the farmer's barns and barrels." But this year there's no rain in sight. It's far too dry. There was less rain in the period from the beginning of February to mid-April 2025 than at any other time in the past 100 years. March saw almost 70% less precipitation than usual, and as many hours of sunshine as we usually only have in summer.
The wildfire risk keeps rising as a result. Fires have already been reported this year in Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia. The level of Europe's most important inland waterway, the Rhine, was so low that cargo ships could only carry 25% of their usual load. Transport costs have noticeably increased, and experts have warned that consumer prices will rise as a result. The German Association of Towns and Cities, which represents the thousands of local authorities, has called on people to conserve drinking water.
Exceptionally dry soil
The situation is worst in the north and north-east of the country, and in parts of Bavaria. These show up as dark red blotches on the drought monitor at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ).
These indicate dryness deep into the soil, but it's the 25 centimeters of topsoil that are exceptionally dry. "The topsoil is especially important for the agricultural sector, and for cereal crops and grasses, which have very shallow roots," explains Professor Dietrich Borchardt of the UFZ. Both the German Weather Service and the Federal Environment Agency confirm that increasing global warming means that this is going to happen more and more often.
Amber warning for groundwater
Experts explain how alarming this is. When soil is dry, it repels water — just as water will simply run off if you try to water a dried-out pot plant. This means that even if rain does fall, it has difficulty soaking into the ground. The problem is exacerbated if it rains hard. "Heavy rainfall events contribute virtually nothing to recharging the groundwater," Borchardt explains. "In drought, the rain is effectively falling on sealed surfaces, because when the soil is parched the water runs off superficially into streams and rivers."
The dryness of the past few months has been particularly disastrous for groundwater. As Borchardt explains, it mainly builds up between November and March, a time when plants are not yet growing and therefore don't need much water. "Groundwater levels at 80% of the measuring sites in Saxony are now conspicuously low," says Borchardt. "It's an amber warning."
According to the UFZ, just one day of gentle, steady rain is enough to moisten the ground again, at least temporarily. But several weeks of continuous rain are needed if it is to trickle down to the groundwater. And, as Borchardt warns, it needs to rain soon: "If we get rain in the summer, scarcely a drop of it will go into the groundwater."
Plants in drought stress
Nature now urgently needs rain. "This is the time when plants want to sprout and blossom, and for that, of course, they need water," says Verena Graichen of the environmental organization BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany). If they don't get it, they suffer drought stress early on, as is already happening with shallow-rooted trees like birches.
Graichen says this makes the plants more susceptible to pests and storms, and creates a vicious circle: "When woods or marshland are weakened by drought stress, they can't absorb as much carbon dioxide, which in turn contributes to climate change.
If it doesn't rain soon, agriculture in particular will suffer. "What would really put the plants under stress would be a drought in early summer, when fruits are starting to form," warns Meike Mieke of the farmers' association in the state of Brandenburg. "That would mean things really getting bad for farmers. Right now, we're just hoping it'll all work out." But the German Weather Service forecast is not encouraging — it predicts that soil moisture will continue to decrease.
Germany's water consumption is officially measured: When more than 20% of the water that naturally regenerates over the course of a year has been used, the country is said to be in water stress. The statistics are encouraging in this regard: In recent decades, water consumption has continuously dropped. Just under 10% of the resource was used in 2022.
The problem of low water levels
The figures show that the largest quantity of water is used by the energy sector. In 2022, 6.6 billion liters of river water were diverted to cool thermal power stations, according to the Federal Statistical Office. However, this water is returned to the waterways virtually unaltered. Low river levels are a problem for power stations, Borchardt explains. Power generation had to be curbed during the extreme drought in the summer of 2018.
Supply chains at risk as Rhine dries up
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Germany's energy transition brings a ray of hope, because more and more thermal power stations are being decommissioned. "The transformation of the energy supply to renewable sources means that by the middle of this century we will hardly have any need for cooling," says Bernd Kirschbaum of the Federal Environment Agency. One of the bonuses of green energy is that solar and wind power plants don't need to be cooled.
In second place is the supply of drinking water. A lot of water also goes to the manufacturing sector: Around five billion liters of river and ground water are used by the chemical and metal industries and in the production of paper. Here, too, the majority of water is used for cooling. There will also be an increasing need for water to cool computer server centers in future.
Enough rain for the agricultural sector
So far, there has been enough rain this year for the agricultural sector. Only a tiny surface area currently requires watering.
Vicious circle: When there is less rainfall, more water has to be used to irrigate crops, further depleting the groundwater Image: Patrick Pleul/dpa/picture alliance
The problem is that, as climate change advances, this will change. It is predicted that we will need up to four times as much water in order to grow food crops by the end of the century — because less rain will fall, and also because the hotter it gets, the faster water evaporates. "In other words, we can no longer assume that there will be enough water to cover all our needs," says Borchardt.
How can we save water?
If periods of drought are going to be more and more frequent, who will be able to save water in future, and how? "The most important thing is water retention on land," says Bernd Kirschbaum. One way of retaining water is by allowing rivers, woods and meadows to take up more space.
"A river with a meandering course takes up more water when it rains and retreats when it's dry, is much better able to hold the water in the landscape," explains the environmentalist Verena Graichen. In urban areas, unsealing and greening surfaces can help water drain into the ground.
Kirschbaum thinks there is also considerable potential for businesses to save water. "Rainwater can be collected on large operating areas and roofs. It can be treated by passing it through specific filters, then reused in technical processes as process water. The same can be done with the wastewater that these companies produce."
Graichen also suggests that the agriculture sector should invest in drip irrigation and drought-resistant plants: "Chickpeas and lentils can cope with less water than you need for berries."
This article has been translated from German.