Water withdrawal ban in Cottbus: Red alert due to drought!

Water withdrawal ban in Cottbus: Red alert due to drought!

In the fight against the ongoing drought, the city of Cottbus and the Spree-Neiße district have made a drastic decision: From Friday, June 29, 2025, an all-day ban on taking water from rivers and lakes will come into force in the entire city of Cottbus and in the Spree catchment area of ​​the Spree-Neiße district. This reports RBB.

Previously, the water withdrawal ban only applied during the day, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. But the situation has worsened: the water level at the Leibsch gauge in the Dahme-Spreewald has been below the critical value for over a week, forcing the authorities to take this step. Even the Saxon dams, which release additional amounts of water, cannot provide further support due to the June quota already used up. This shows how serious the situation is and that similar measures had to be taken in many districts, including Dahme-Spreewald and Oberspreewald-Lausitz.

Affected regions

The water withdrawal bans are not just limited to Cottbus. How RBB24 reported, the districts of Spree-Neiße, Dahme-Spreewald, Oberspreewald-Lausitz and Elbe-Elster are also affected. In these regions, due to the drought, a general ban on water abstraction from surface waters was issued, some of which has already been in force since June 20, 2025.

• Spree-Neiße: Wasserentnahmeverbot von 8 bis 20 Uhr gilt für Spremberg, Drebkau und mehrere andere Orte.
• Dahme-Spreewald: Ähnliches Verbot zwischen 8 und 20 Uhr für unter anderem Lübben und Luckau.
• Oberspreewald-Lausitz: Einschränkungen gelten ebenfalls in der Mittleren Spree und für die Schwarze Elster.
• Elbe-Elster: Hier ist ein uneingeschränktes Entnahmeverbot in Kraft; Anträge für Ausnahmegenehmigungen sind nötig.

Causes and outlook

The cause of the water-stressed conditions is persistent drought caused by historically low rainfall, particularly in the winter months. As hydrologist Ingolf Arnold shows, only a quarter of the usual amount of precipitation fell until June of this year. These developments bring with them the water extraction bans that could potentially become the new normal in the region. This is also what he reports Daily Mirror.

The authorities ask the population to be understanding and considerate when using water. Pumping with garden pumps is prohibited, but skimming with a watering can is permitted if done in moderation. These measures are intended to stabilize the currently critical situation of water levels and to protect the ecological status of the waters. The challenge facing the region is immense and requires collective action.