Upper Austria water cooperative drills wells as drought deepens

Ongoing heat in Upper Austria is putting drinking water supplies under increasing pressure, prompting a water cooperative in Ulrichsberg to drill deep wells into granite, ORF reported Wednesday. The situation is particularly difficult in parts of the Mühlviertel where there are no large groundwater bodies.

Ulrichsberg, in the Rohrbach district, has received only about one third of its usual rainfall this summer. As a result, water sources in the otherwise water-rich upper Mühlviertel are running short.

“For years, nobody had to think about the possibility that this could change. Now it has changed, and we have to deal with the situation,” said Rudi Stöbich, who led the Ulrichsberg water cooperative for many years.

Water demand has also risen steadily, he said. Households have become much larger, while businesses that have settled in the municipality also require substantial amounts of water. “Water demand has increased so much that our sources are no longer sufficient,” Stöbich said.

Temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius were recently recorded in the upper Mühlviertel. At the same time, the sources in the Böhmerwald are supplying less water. Manfred Altendorfer, chairman of the Ulrichsberg water cooperative, said the sources were now providing only about 20 percent of their total capacity, which was not enough to keep the municipality’s water supply stable.

The cooperative has been drilling wells 60 to 70 metres deep into the granite for several years. Six wells have already been completed, and another is scheduled to be built in September.

Altendorfer said deep drilling could be the only way for entire regions to get through periods of drought. “To bridge dry periods, we have to search for water one level deeper in order to stabilise the water supply,” he said.

Finding new sources is becoming increasingly difficult, said Gerald Öhler, the cooperative’s deputy chairman. New water-bearing formations in the Böhmerwald region are limited, he said. “We do not have a source scenario that is always available. Digging or drilling here does not automatically mean finding water,” Öhler said.

The drought is also affecting vegetation. Slopes facing south in Ulrichsberg and Schöneben, which had previously remained lush green throughout the summer, are now showing unusual discolouration, Öhler said.

In an interview on ORF’s Upper Austria programme, Daniela König, the state’s director for water management, discussed which municipalities are currently facing the greatest water shortages and whether Upper Austria can determine how water may be used during prolonged dry periods.