To the east of Berlin, local residents are fighting over the water supply with the car manufacturer Tesla.
In the village of Grünheide, the newly built Tesla factory draws as much water as an entire town. At the same time, residents have water restrictions due to drought.
– The maximum consumption is 150 liters per day. If I have guests, they may not be allowed to go to the toilet, says Manuela Hoyer, a resident of Grünheide.
Large parts of Europe are affected by drought and groundwater levels are falling year after year. Around Berlin it has been a reasonably wet spring, but there has been far from enough rain to make up for the last five dry years.
Water restrictions
Manuela Hoyer stands in her kitchen in Grünheide, a small town east of Berlin. Outside her balcony is a beautiful canal, her two dogs are playing and the birds are chirping. It is her little paradise, just a few miles from the German capital.
But her little paradise is also located in a region that has been affected by drought for several years. The groundwater is sinking and sinking, and now restrictions have been introduced – each resident can use a maximum of 105 liters per day, enough if you don’t waste but if you have guests it can be difficult.
Manuela looks towards the forest. Behind it is the object of her hatred – the Tesla factory, which she has fought against for years and which sucks up as much water as a city of 40,000 inhabitants.
Elon Musk’s European project
When Elon Musk decided that Tesla would build its first European factory outside Berlin, politicians and the business community rejoiced. It was the best economic news for the area since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and local politicians pulled out all the stops to help Musk and Tesla through the tangled jungle of German laws and regulations.
The promises and hopes have largely been incorporated. Around 11,000 people work in the factory and thousands of Model Ys are assembled every week.
But a lot of water is also needed to make cars and the water basically comes from the same wells and pipes as Manuela’s water – the one that is starting to run out.
Water deficit
Four years ago, Tesla started building the factory and then the situation with the groundwater was not so dramatic. But since then the area has been hit by a drought. Jörg Riemann, who is a meteorologist at the company Wettermanufuktur, says that there is now a “deficit” of around 600 liters of water per square meter.
– There is a whole year’s rainfall that is missing, he says.
Tesla has finally admitted that water in particular could become a future problem and has applied to drill its own private wells. This may mean that Manuela and her neighbors can avoid water restrictions in the short term. But if the groundwater level drops further, new wells won’t help either – when the water runs out, it’s over.
– What is really needed is several years of persistent rain, says Jörg. Unfortunately, 2023 looks set to be another dry summer.