Water

Abstraction of water for the extraction of natural resources

The abstraction of ground and surface water may be necessary during the course of the extraction and further processing of natural resources. The volumes of water abstracted for the activities of the natural resources extractive sector are published by the rele- vant statistical authorities of the individual Federal States.¹ An overview is shown in the graph below.

The “mining and quarrying” sector abstracted a total of 1,466 million m³ of water in 2016 (mainlyground- water). Coal mining accounted for around 75% of this volume. This corresponds to around 5% of the total water abstracted in Germany by industry and private households. Depending on the regional importance of the natural resources sector – particularly coal mining – the proportion is higher in some Federal States than in others (up to 30% in individual cases).²

Example: Use of water in potash and rock salt mining

In potash and rock salt mining, water from different origins and of different quality levels including river water, groundwater and drinking water is used in many processes.

Raw salt is generally mined by means of drilling and blasting in the underground mining of potash and rock salt. However, salt can also be extracted in a brine plant, where fresh water is introduced into soluble (salt) rock by means of a borehole, resulting in the creation of chambers filled with salt water. The salt-saturated water (so-called brine) is then con- veyed to the surface via another pipeline. The salt is ultimately extracted when the brine evaporates.

Use of water

During the initial development of a deposit of natural resources, the pumping out of groundwater can lead to a lowering of the groundwater level. Water abstractions during extraction of the natural resources may also be necessary e.g. to keep shafts or excavation pits dry. This so-called drainage and mine water is, if necessary, treated, purified, seeps away or, if applicable, reused, e.g. to maintain moist biotopes or introduced into surface water without being used further.

The use of water by the mining industry is associated with consequences for the water balance. Environ- mental impacts can result from, among other causes, the change in the groundwater level, the flow rate of water bodies and the introduction of drainage and mine water into surface waters.

Water abstraction in the natural resources sector by state in 2016 (in 1,000s of m³)

Legal framework for water abstraction

The Water Resources Act that came into force in 1960 dictates that water can only be abstracted from the groundwater and surface water, if a permit has been granted in which this usage has been regulated in terms of the nature and quantity of usage. An EU- wide legal framework for the protection of water and groundwater was created in 2000 with the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) of 23 October 2000 (WRRL). The WRRL stipulates (inter alia) that the costs of water services (including certain water abstractions) and environmental and resource-related costs are covered by the polluter-pays principle.³ Water abstractions must also be checked for compli- ance with the general environment targets of the WRRL.

If the volume of ground or surface water abstracted exceeds certain thresholds, environmental impact assessments must be carried out for the projects concerned.

The implementation of the WRRL into national law took place in Germany through the Water Resources Act, which regulates the protection and use of surface and groundwater at national level. Water abstraction procedures are subject to the reservation on the grant- ing of permission by the water authorities. The water laws of the Federal States supplement and concretise the federal water laws. Overall, the Federal States are left to regulate the water abstraction fees.

Structuring of water abstraction fees

The structuring of fees for water abstraction is carried out by the Federal States that receive these fees. This is why water abstraction fees levied in Germany differ widely in 13 of the 16 Federal States, the three excep- tions being Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia. The total revenue in the 2020 budgetary plans of the Federal States was estimated at around EUR414 million. These revenues are partly used for water management tasks, or they flow into the general budget of the respective Federal State.⁴

Most Federal States levy consumption-related fees for the abstraction of ground and surface water. Depending on the individual structure, these fees are also intended to reflect the “value of the public services” for the uti- lisation of resources and can therefore act as incentive taxes for a sustainable water management programme and for the allocation of environmental and resource costs (§ 1 and § 6a of the Water Resources Act).⁵

In most Federal States, levy rates differ according to the type of abstraction, volume, origin of the water (surface water or groundwater) and the purpose for which the water is to be used. There are also various state-specific deviations from the relevant rules through exemptions or discounts, and these may also apply to the natural resources sector.

Water abstraction fees in the natural resources sector

Very different rates are levied nationwide for the abstraction of water in the natural resources sector. For example, fees of between 0.3 and 5 cents/litre for surface water are applied in some Federal States for certain types of mining operations (e.g. in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), while in other Federal States, the fees for groundwater abstraction can range from 5 to 31 cents/m.⁶

In Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein, on the other hand, groundwater excavation is exempt from water abstraction charges. In some Federal States, there are explicit regulations for dewatering operations in mines, or for water that is reintroduced into surface waters without being subsequently used.

The various fee levy rates, exemptions and discount rules are published in the individual water laws or ordinances of the Federal States. The German Federal Environment Agency provides an overview of the rele- vant fee levy rates in the natural resources sector.⁷ However, a publicly-accessible source of information on the amount of revenue from water abstraction fees paid by the natural resources sector does not exist in all Federal States. Reports on this are regularly given to the State Parliament in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Water abstraction fees represent a flow of cash be- tween companies that extract natural resources and the German State. Due to the different levy rates (inter alia) in individual Federal States, most payments lie below the materiality threshold agreed in the D-EITI, which is why they are not disclosed as a pay- ment flow in the D-EITI report. Where companies in the extractive sector have reported water abstraction charges above the materiality threshold of EUR100,000, these can be found in the BilRUG payment reports.⁸

¹ Federal Office of Statistics (2021): Environmental economic accounting URL: https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Umwelt/ UGR/_inhalt.html (Accessed on 25 November 2021).

² In some Federal States, a distinction is made between the following two sectors: 1. ores, quarried natural resources, other mining products and 2. coal, peat, oil and natural gas; e.g. Saxony State Office of Statistics (2013): Water supply and waste water disposal in the operations of the non-public sector in the Free State of Saxony. https://www.statistischebibliothek.de/mir/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/SNHeft_derivate_00006220/Q_I_2_3j_13_SN.pd- f;jsessionid=26B6141659185B4E5052687F0D471F70. In 2016 the water abstraction by business and private households was around 29.6 billion m³, see https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Querschnitt/Jahrbuch/jb-umwelt.pdf? blob=publicationFile

³ In its ruling of 11 September 2014 (docket ref. C-525/12), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed that with these federal and state regulations, Germany had sufficiently implemented the principle of cost recovery from the EU Water Framework Directive. The ECJ also expressly points out that in accordance with the provisions of Article 9(4) of this directive, the EU Member States are in any case empowered not to apply the cost-covering principle to certain water uses, while addressing the purposes and objectives of the directive.

⁴ Association of municipal enterprises e. V. (VKU) (2020): Comparison of water abstraction charges in the Federal States (Wasserentnahmeentgelte der Bundesländer im Vergleich). URL: https://www.vku.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Verbandsseite/Presse/Grafiken_und_Statistiken/Wasser_Abwass- er/201006_VKU-Grafik_Wasserentnahmeentgelte_2020.jpg (Accessed on 25 November 2021).

⁵ Gawel/Bretschneider (2016): Water abstraction fees in Baden-Wuerttemberg Inventory and Evaluation. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, URL: https://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=40917 (Accessed on 25 November 2021).

⁶ German Federal Environment Agency (2017): Table of water abstraction fees in the natural resources sector in the Federal States. URL: https://www. umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/2466/dokumente/tabelle_wasserentnahmeentgelte_im_rohstoffsektor_uba_neu.docx (Accessed on 25 November 2021).

⁷German Federal Environment Agency (2021): Economic questions. URL: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/themen/wasser/wasser-bewirtschaften/ oekonomische-fragen#textpart-1 (Accessed on 25 November 2021).

⁸ According to § 341v HGB for example, payments of water usage fees were reported by the following companies for 2019: Holcim (Deutschland) GmbH: EUR 394,000; LEAG Lausitzer Energie Bergbau AG: EUR1,116,539.24; RWE Group/RWE Power AG and RWE Rheinische Baustoffwerke GmbH: EUR12,908,328; source: Annual payment reports – https://www.bundesanzeiger.de/