De Dommel water authority is calling for as little irrigation as possible to be done with groundwater. The groundwater levels are very low, according to the water board.
And so it is important to use and irrigate as little as possible. And if irrigation is really necessary, to do it in the evening or at night. Then less water evaporates. The appeal is addressed to farmers, sports clubs, municipalities and all residents of the water board area.
“The Dommel area suffers from drought and high temperatures with a lot of evaporation. The extreme drought and high temperatures continue. The rain forecast for the coming days will not solve the groundwater shortage. The groundwater levels are very low,” says the water board.
“We have to be careful with all the water in our area, in streams and ditches and groundwater. Everyone has to do their bit, that really makes a difference. Every drop counts, also for groundwater”, says the water board.
Emergency bell
This is far from the first time that ‘Waterschap De Dommel’ (water board) has sounded the alarm bell about water shortages in the region. Earlier, abstraction bans were announced so that farmers could no longer use surface water for irrigation.
Water transition
For the future, the water board says that a real ‘water transition’ is needed, in which we must ‘fundamentally’ change our approach to water. We have to look at the amount of water we consume daily. Trying not to waste water and reduce consumption. Part of this is also retaining water in nature areas for longer. To this end, automated weirs will be built so that we can better anticipate weather extremes.
Source: Studio040
