Drought keeps Lower Austrian fire brigades delivering water

Fire brigades in Lower Austria are still supplying municipalities and farms with water as drought persists, with such call-outs far more common this year than last, ORF reports.

In Prigglitz, a municipality in the Neunkirchen district, volunteer firefighters make four to six trips a day, seven days a week. They collect drinking water from a hydrant in neighbouring Gloggnitz and transport it in a tanker that holds up to 15,000 litres. The water is pumped into a reservoir in Prigglitz for distribution.

The brigade also delivers water to farms not connected to the public supply network. Farmer Roland Kobermann says he needs the firefighters to bring fresh drinking water two or three times a week. He pays for those deliveries himself, while the municipality covers the cost of supplying the public.

Water deliveries in Prigglitz were needed at the end of last year, stopped over winter and resumed in April. The situation worsened again from late June, when falling spring levels meant the brigade had to make deliveries every day, Mayor Karl Stranz said. The municipality is seeking a long-term solution and plans test drilling to find new water sources. Fire chief Robert Ötsch said it was not yet possible to say when the situation would ease, as little rain had fallen.

Prigglitz is not alone. The Neunkirchen district fire brigade command says water-supply call-outs are currently well above the average for September, with some brigades responding several times a day because wells are running low.

In the Amstetten district, fire brigades recorded more than 700 water-supply call-outs from early June to the end of September, compared with about 160 during the same period last year. Across Lower Austria, 1,508 such call-outs were reported in August, up from 198 in August 2025. Numbers have fallen from July and August, but fire brigades continue to supply water in affected municipalities.