Water withdrawal ban in the Dahme-Spreewald district: drought strikes!

Water withdrawal ban in the Dahme-Spreewald district: drought strikes!

There is currently a serious reason for concern in the Dahme-Spreewald region: the district has imposed an all-day ban on abstracting water from surface waters. Loud Niederlausitz Current This ban affects the municipalities of Märkische Heide, the Unterspreewald district, the Lieberose/Oberspreewald district, the city of Lübben, the city of Luckau and the municipality of Heideblick. The background to this decision is the ongoing drought, which has led to alarmingly low water levels in the Dahme and Spree.

The discharge value of the Spree at the Leibsch gauge has been permanently below the critical value since June 19, 2025. This meant that water releases from the Saxon storage facilities and the Spremberg dam could not be reduced further. The general order was published in the district's official gazette and repeals the previous regulation of June 17, 2025.

Drought in Brandenburg

The situation in Dahme-Spreewald is part of a larger problem that affects several districts in southern Brandenburg. In RBB24 There are reports of similar bans in the Spree-Neiße district, Oberspreewald-Lausitz and Elbe-Elster. These bans were introduced in the affected districts primarily due to the extreme drought. In the Spree-Neiße, for example, the ban applies from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., while in Dahme-Spreewald the same times apply.

However, there was no rain in Brandenburg this year. In June 2025, only 38 liters of precipitation per square meter were measured, making this region one of the driest in Germany Märkische Allgemeine reports. For comparison: Spring this year was significantly sunnier than average with 700 hours of sunshine.

Long-term effects

However, the ongoing drought does not only have short-term consequences. Experts warn that the water withdrawal bans we are seeing now may become the new normal. Hydrologists note a chronic deficit in precipitation that has existed for several years. There is no immediate recovery in water levels in sight and many bodies of water are under pressure.

One of the proposals to improve this situation is to better retain rainwater in the landscape and to develop concepts for “sponge cities”. This is the only way to counteract the impending water shortage in the long term and ensure the ecological status of the water bodies.

The situation is serious and requires not only the authorities, but also citizens to rethink how they deal with water resources. The next few months will be crucial in determining how water levels develop and whether normality returns.