Water protection area; determination

To protect public water extraction (wells, springs), water protection areas are designated and established by ordinance by the district administrative authority.

Water protection areas not only guarantee safe drinking water. They also protect the environment and ultimately serve to protect consumers. In Bavaria, precautionary drinking water protection is based on a concept consisting of several components that build on each other (the so-called "Bavarian way"). The catchment area of a drinking water extraction plant is differentiated into three risk areas according to sensitivity. Only the particularly sensitive parts of the catchment area are designated as water protection areas under regulatory law; the remaining catchment area can be covered by the instruments of regional planning (priority and reserved areas for public water supply), by targeted catchment area management by the water supply companies (WVU), e.g. through voluntary cooperation with farmers, and by consistent enforcement of general groundwater protection. However, where sensitivity is high (e.g. in karst), the entire catchment area is covered by the WSG. This means that the water protection areas and the impact on private land can be limited to what is absolutely necessary. The proportion of the approx. 3,100 protected areas designated throughout Bavaria to date is therefore only around 5 % of the state area.

Water protection areas generally consist of three protection zones:

• Zone I (catchment area):

  The catchment area protects the wells and springs and their immediate surroundings from any kind of contamination. This area is therefore fenced off and is usually the property of the water supplier. Only selected persons have access.

• Zone II (narrower protection zone):

  This zone primarily ensures protection against contamination by pathogens. For this reason, waste water and liquid manure must not be allowed to seep into the ground here under any circumstances. Zone II must be large enough for the groundwater to travel underground from its outer boundary to the wells for 50 days, as this is how long it takes for it to be sufficiently purified of pathogens.

• Zone III (further protection zone), sometimes subdivided into Zone IIIA and Zone IIIB:

  The zone is based on the catchment area. It is intended to provide protection against contaminants that are difficult to break down, for example after accidents involving chemicals in the wider vicinity of the water extraction plants. It also ensures that there is sufficient time to take countermeasures following accidents. In large water protection areas, the "further protection zone" can be divided into a protection zone III A and III B - with different prohibitions and requirements. As a rule, the "Further protection zone" does not cover the entire catchment area.

The size of the protection zones is determined individually by the local hydrogeological conditions. In Bavaria, special precautions for drinking water protection are provided not only by water protection areas, but also by water management priority and reserved areas as well as responsible catchment area management by the water supply companies. In this way, water protection areas and the impact on private land can be limited to what is absolutely necessary (the "Bavarian way"). The proportion of the approx. 3,100 protected areas designated throughout Bavaria to date is therefore only around 4.9 % of the state's surface area.