We are currently experiencing a very wet year – but the years 2018 to 2022 have repeatedly shown us how devastating prolonged periods of drought can be: Crop failures, water bodies drying up and falling groundwater levels. Even if the groundwater reservoirs have now recovered somewhat, the challenge remains. This is because the likelihood of droughts in Central Europe is increasing with climate change. There is already a clear trend towards drier summers, particularly in eastern Germany and the Rhine-Main region. Current projections show that we will increasingly have to deal with hot, dry summers in Germany, while winters will tend to become wetter. It is therefore high time to adapt to this and utilise the available water resources as efficiently as possible in order to prevent distribution and usage conflicts. Innovative research approaches and application tools, which are being developed jointly by various research institutions and practice partners, are helping us to do this!
The findings for a precautionary approach to drought and low water have now been summarised in an impulse paper. This follows on from the impulse paper on heavy rainfall and flash floods, which was published in June 2024. The findings are the result of the ‘Water Extreme Events (WaX)’ funding programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). New scientific findings and practical application tools are presented on the basis of eight points, which this time are intended to support municipal and regional stakeholders in dealing with drought and low water.
You can download the impulse paper here.
Further information on WaX can be found here.
We hope you enjoy reading it
The networking and transfer project of the WaX funding programme
German Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction (DKKV) & University of Potsdam