Dürremanagement: Defizite im deutschen Wasserrecht

In Germany, climate change is leading to longer and more intense periods of drought, causing considerable damage to agriculture and forestry, water suppliers, industries and commerce, as well as ecosystems. The Water Resources Act does not explicitly mention drought risk prevention and drought management, neither as a management principle nor as a management objective. Rather, the water management objectives listed in the act are tailored exclusively to normal weather conditions and not to coping with periods of drought. Although an obligation to draw up a drought management concept can be derived from the Climate Adaptation Act, this has not yet been backed up with concrete regulations and instruments for drought management. What is needed is the development of a legal framework as a foundation for a systematic management of droughts. This should cover the two areas of drought precaution and coping measures. For precautionary measures, the knowledge base and forecasting capabilities for low water as well as droughts and their consequences must be improved, and management plans ought to be developed. In the area of operational drought management, the legal framework needs to be expanded to provide the responsible authorities with further options for an efficient control and - where necessary - curtailment of water use.