- 2 days ago
In Brandenburg, Tesla and Red Bull are expanding their factories, consuming local water supplies. A planned copper mine is also raising new concerns. How soon until Germany has a drinking water shortage?
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00:00The fight over water in Germany has begun.
00:03Just outside Berlin, Tesla is expanding.
00:05Red Bull also plans to grow.
00:07And deep underground, a new copper mine is being planned.
00:09How much these companies pay for their water hasn't been made public.
00:12Parts of the groundwater data have been redacted.
00:15They don't care what happens to our water or what happens to the people who live here.
00:21All of this is happening in Brandenburg, a region once considered rich in water, but
00:26now one of the driest parts of Germany.
00:30In the small Brandenburg town of Barut, 60 kilometers south of Berlin, mineral water has been bottled
00:35since the 1990s.
00:37The companies Red Bull and Rauch took over the site in early 2023.
00:41Now they want to expand production with a new canning plant and additional facilities planned
00:46in the heart of a water protection zone.
00:48Many locals fear the expansion will put even more pressure on the region's scarce water.
00:54The climate has changed, and for the past 10 years, groundwater levels here have been
00:59falling.
01:00The soil is getting drier and drier.
01:03It's a fact.
01:04Our fear is that one day there won't be enough water.
01:08The Barut Water Works are licensed to extract a fixed amount of groundwater each year.
01:1292 percent of that amount has been reserved for Red Bull and Rauch.
01:16Just 8 percent remains for the local drinking water supply.
01:18Red Bull and Rauch's annual water use alone is equivalent to the yearly drinking water
01:23needs of 57,000 people in Germany.
01:27That's all legal under decades-old contracts, says Peter Ilk.
01:31Few people have shaped Barut's development as much as he has.
01:34Mayor for nearly 25 years, he has been a driving force behind the area's industrial growth.
01:39He doesn't see water as a problem.
01:43We've always given priority to supplying local people.
01:46That's written into all the contracts.
01:51But to be fair, we don't have a very large population.
01:54My 4,300 residents consume a certain amount of water, and that's simply what they need.
02:01A beverage factory obviously uses much more.
02:05That's why the ratio of water usage is roughly 1 to 10.
02:10Irina Engelhardt is a professor of hydrogeology in Berlin
02:13and has spent years studying Brandenburg's groundwater resources.
02:17I'm increasingly concerned about Brandenburg's water resources.
02:21I think the problem is that the available water resources, what we call the water supply,
02:27are currently being overestimated by the authorities in Brandenburg.
02:33The contracts underpinning the beverage company's current water rights date back to the 1990s,
02:38a time when climate change and water scarcity were barely part of the debate in Brandenburg.
02:44Factors have changed. Groundwater levels have fallen.
02:48Groundwater recharge has changed along with land use.
02:52The study doesn't reflect those changes.
02:55That's why Engelhardt and local residents are calling for new independent studies that are publicly available.
03:02The town keeps saying there's constant monitoring to make sure everything is fine.
03:07So we requested the data from the state environmental agency.
03:11And this is what we got. Pages and pages of blacked out tables.
03:15They told us the information was redacted to protect the location of wells, which are apparently secret.
03:22But the wells are right here, next to a public trail.
03:26For security reasons, the exact locations of the wells have not been made public.
03:31Local residents, however, believe it is the groundwater monitoring data that is being kept from public view
03:36and are calling for greater transparency.
03:38We contacted Rauch for comment more than a month ago.
03:42By the time of publication, the company had not responded to our request.
03:46For drought expert Andreas Marx, the issue is about a fundamental principle.
03:52By law, water is a public commodity. It can't be privately owned.
03:58So in my view, every decision made and every contract signed over its use should be open to the public.
04:06Another concern? Water prices aren't public either.
04:10What Red Bull and Rauch pay for the 7 million liters of groundwater they can extract each day remains confidential.
04:15The question is, what's a fair price?
04:20And should an industrial company using water for cooling pay the same as a company that sells the water itself,
04:27like a beverage producer?
04:30Germany lacks a national framework for this.
04:36But just how serious is the situation? Is the region already running out of water?
04:40We're not at the point of saying we're running out of water. We're in a transition phase.
04:48Germany and Brandenburg are still water-rich regions.
04:51The challenge isn't adapting to permanent water scarcity.
04:55The challenge is learning how to cope with dry periods that can last two or even three years.
05:01Across Brandenburg, dry summers, less rainfall and increasing evaporation have put growing pressure on water resources.
05:08And with that comes very low groundwater recharge. In other words, very little replenishment of our groundwater reserves.
05:15Since 2018, Germany has experienced widespread groundwater scarcity for the first time.
05:21That means the system is shifting. It's changing.
05:25In some areas, groundwater levels have fallen by as much as two meters over the past 20 years.
05:32Brandenburg gets 95% of its drinking water from groundwater. The falling groundwater levels are also visible in many of
05:39Brandenburg's lakes, which are getting drier.
05:41Heike Christoph has lived by Kleiner Kolpiner See for more than 30 years.
05:45She spent her childhood holidays here with her grandparents and has watched the lake change ever since.
05:52We used to sit on this jetty in winter, put on our ice skates and skate straight into the lake.
05:59Now you can see the water level has dropped by at least a meter and a half.
06:03And even though you can see the water here again, it's only 20 or 30 centimeters deep.
06:11The lake is mainly fed by groundwater. When groundwater levels fall, the lake's water levels fall as well. And the
06:17effects are already being felt.
06:20Our amphibian populations are collapsing. We used to have toads, newts, snakes. Most of them have disappeared and maybe for
06:28good.
06:31At the same time, new industrial projects are raising questions about how much water Brandenburg will have left in the
06:37future.
06:38Just a few kilometers from Kleiner Kolpiner See, Tesla has built its factory in the small town of GrĂĽnheide, in
06:45an area already facing groundwater stress.
06:48Tesla's Gigafactory has faced local opposition ever since it was first announced in 2019.
06:53Manu Heuer has been involved since the start.
06:57Many projects, including new schools and kindergartens, were put on hold because there wasn't enough water.
07:03Tesla's water use has been controversial for years. The company has been granted permission to use 1.4 million cubic
07:10meters of water annually.
07:11Tesla plans to significantly expand production at its GrĂĽnheide factory, with the target of producing up to 7,500 vehicles
07:19per week.
07:20As production expands, securing a reliable water supply for the site becomes increasingly important.
07:26According to Tesla's 2025 annual report, the company's water consumption has fallen significantly, thanks to its in-house recycling system.
07:34We asked Tesla for comment. By the time of publication, the company had not responded.
07:39For many locals, it's no longer just about how much water is used. It's about who takes responsibility, and who's
07:45asked to cut back, as water becomes more scarce.
07:48Private water users are usually the first to face restrictions, simply because they're the easiest to limit.
07:55Industrial companies are rarely restricted, because the economic consequences are much harder to assess.
08:03Many of these major projects are seen as economically and strategically important.
08:07They create jobs, attract investment, and produce materials needed for the energy transition.
08:13That's what makes the conflict so difficult, because this kind of development needs water too.
08:18The arrival of Tesla has further increased demand for commercial and industrial land, according to Brandenburg's Economic Development Agency.
08:25Just 25 kilometers from Tesla, another major industrial project could soon take shape.
08:31Here in FĂĽrstenwalde, a vast industrial and business park is planned, covering an area that would amount to more than
08:37a third of the city's entire built-up area.
08:39Which companies will eventually move in, remains completely unknown.
08:43To make way for it, around 250 hectares of this forest, right next to the river Spree, could be cleared.
08:49A citizens' initiative is campaigning against the plants, warning they could have far-reaching consequences.
08:57What we're most afraid of is climate change hitting this region even harder.
09:04That could happen if we keep sacrificing our only protection against drought and water shortages for the sake of industry.
09:16The forest consists largely of pine monoculture. Even so, it plays an important role in the region's water balance.
09:23Forests store water, cool their surroundings, and help regulate the local water cycle.
09:28If this forest were cleared, rainwater could run off the surface much more quickly.
09:32The forest soil would also lose its natural filtering function.
09:35That's especially important, because the river Spree is a key source of Berlin's drinking water.
09:39Anyone who clears forests in Brandenburg is generally required to compensate for the loss.
09:44But critics argue that a newly planted forest cannot replace a mature one that is already storing water, cooling the
09:49landscape, and filtering groundwater.
09:51The project remained largely unnoticed. It was only after citizens began campaigning against it that the plants came into the
09:58public eye.
09:59There were just two or three council resolutions buried on an obscure municipal website.
10:05We had to dig them up and then make sense of them. Other than that, there was nothing.
10:12For many residents, the project would be a reason to leave the place they call home.
10:17If I knew this forest were going to disappear, if this industrial park were built here, I'd leave. This place
10:23just wouldn't be worth living in anymore.
10:27Further south in Brandenburg, another major project is raising concerns. A large copper mine is planned near the town of
10:33Sprenberg.
10:34Over the coming decades, copper is said to be extracted from depths of up to 1,200 meters.
10:39The raw material is essential for power grids, electric vehicles, and the transition to clean energy.
10:44But mining operations could put drinking water supplies at risk. Geotechnical engineer Michael Pfeiffer explains why.
10:51You have to imagine that the layers of rock above the copper deposit aren't uniform. It's not like a neatly
10:57layered cake.
10:58They're fractured, with cracks and fissures running through them. Water can seep through those fractures all the way down to
11:05the mine.
11:05That mine water becomes heavily contaminated, depending on the rock formations it passes through.
11:12Above all, it's highly saline and contains sulfur and various dissolved ions.
11:18Under no circumstances can water like that simply be discharged into a river, such as the Spree.
11:26The plan is to treat the water before it is discharged.
11:30But the treatment plan proposed so far is nowhere near capable of doing what's actually required to clean the water
11:38to a standard where it could be safely discharged into the Spree.
11:42The project could affect drinking water supplies all along the river Spree, even as far as Berlin.
11:49The consequences of prioritizing industry over drinking water can already be seen here in Sprenberg.
11:54To enable lignite mining, groundwater levels were lowered. As a result, iron-rich soil layers were exposed to oxygen.
12:01When groundwater levels rise again, iron hydroxide forms, turning sections of the river Spree brown and affecting water quality to
12:08this day.
12:10For many people here in Sprenberg, it's a warning from the past. They fear the planned copper mine could leave
12:15behind a new problem.
12:17Open-pit lignite mining dates back to the former East Germany. At the time, it was seen as the only
12:24viable way to generate electricity.
12:27People in this town and across the region have lived with the consequences ever since.
12:32Current estimates suggest that this legacy will continue to affect Sprenberg until the end of this century.
12:39Lignite mining in this region is set to end by 2038. Experts warn that during dry summers, the river Spree
12:45could then carry up to 75% less water,
12:49with far-reaching consequences for water resources all the way to Berlin.
12:53One reason is that once mining ends, the groundwater that has been pumped from the open pit mines into the
12:57Spree for decades will no longer be available.
13:00And additional water will be needed in the coming years to flood former open pit mines as part of their
13:05rehabilitation.
13:05If copper mining is ultimately pursued for political reasons, then we need a long-term strategy to safeguard drinking water
13:14supplies.
13:16But that strategy shouldn't come after the damage is done. It has to be a prerequisite for approving copper mining
13:24here in Sprenberg.
13:27Whether from mining, industry or climate change, pressure on Brandenburg's water is growing.
13:32The challenge is making better use of the water that's already there.
13:36Fortunately, solutions already exist.
13:38Hydrogeologist Irina Engelhardt and her team are researching how excess water from rainy and snowy winters can be stored underground
13:45as a reserve for dry periods.
13:48There are areas with particularly suitable geological conditions where excess water can be recharged into the ground either through infiltration
13:57basins or injection wells.
14:00One of these sites is located in Hobrichtsfelde, Brandenburg.
14:03Through these basins, treated wastewater is deliberately allowed to seep into the ground.
14:08This helps replenish groundwater reserves and store water for periods of drought.
14:11The process is known as artificial groundwater recharge.
14:15We're taking advantage of the natural filtration that happens underground.
14:21Microorganisms and clay particles help transform and purify the water as it moves through the subsurface,
14:27so that it can later be recovered in a very good quality.
14:33Engelhardt and her team have already surveyed the entire Lower Spree region to identify where this approach could be implemented.
14:41There are areas in Brandenburg, such as the region where Tesla is now located, where artificial groundwater recharge could meet
14:49almost the entire water demand of the local drinking water supplier.
14:55But according to Engelhardt, Germany's strict Federal Water Act currently does not allow this method to be implemented on a
15:02large scale.
15:04This method is especially suitable for non-potable water uses, whether in agriculture or industry, because it doesn't require the
15:13same quality as drinking water.
15:15Still, the approach has its limits.
15:18One limitation is that the water we want to recharge has to be available in the first place.
15:24That means we need rivers or other forms of surface water with sufficient flow to provide it.
15:30The challenge isn't just how much water is available.
15:33It's also about having clear rules for who gets water and how much during periods of droughts, says Andreas Marx.
15:40To put the urgency into perspective, the term drought isn't even defined in Germany's Federal Water Act.
15:48What is being debated in Brandenburg today is part of a much larger global challenge.
15:53From Chile and Mexico to India, industries, agriculture, ecosystems and communities are increasingly competing for a resource that is becoming
16:01ever more scarce – water.
16:04We will be able to continue to go about longer than ever.
16:05Let us know in the�ude of another new project.
16:07How do you recommend doing that?
16:07How do you recommend doing that?
16:07From Chile and Mexico to India in Germany, my first year of the state of the United States Education into
16:08chemistry
16:08This is a following year.
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