About the initiative

Water is the key resource of the 21st century. It is the basis of life, an economic and locational factor—and increasingly a limited commodity.

Extreme weather, conflicts over land use, pollution, and major changes to water structures are giving us a big challenge: we need to come up with practical strategies for managing water in a way that's close to nature and keeps enough clean drinking water available for the long term.

This task is complex and affects many stakeholders. They all access the same resource. At the same time, our water system has undergone more changes than is often assumed. In Germany alone, there are around 10,000 hydropower plants. They cut through watercourses, interrupt migration corridors, and alter sediment and material flows—with ecological consequences that extend far beyond individual locations. In addition, there are around 250,000 water bodies and bodies of water—from ponds and retention basins to small lakes—that have hardly been systematically recorded or integrated into overarching strategies. The actual extent of fragmentation and use is often underestimated. 

The Helmholtz Association brings together expertise across the entire spectrum of water research – from molecular processes and experimental ecosystem analyses to the modeling of entire river basins. This breadth is crucial for understanding the connections between local processes and large-scale developments and for making reliable predictions.

In three interdisciplinary Solution Labs, we work together with stakeholders from practice, administration, and business to develop concrete solutions. Here, scientific findings are translated into options for action, conflicts of use are openly discussed, and strategies for resilient water management are developed.

Our goal is clear: to combine excellent, innovative science with a strong focus on transfer. After all, transforming the way we use water will only succeed if research does not end in the laboratory, but is effectively implemented in landscapes, infrastructures, and political decision-making processes.

  • 25.000

    More than 25.000 individual measures have been planned or implemented in German river basins. Of these, 5,589 individual measures relate to the Elbe alone. How these measures interact in practice has not yet been investigated. 

  • 9

    Currently, only 9% of surface waters in Germany are in good or very good condition, but none are in good or very good chemical condition. The EU Water Framework Directive requires all European waters to be in at least good condition. 

  • 9.300

    With around 9,300 hydroelectric power plants, the fragmentation of river courses in Germany is far greater than one might assume. This makes it considerably more difficult to achieve a good ecological status.

  • 215.000

    In relation to the entire German river network, there is a technical transverse structure (weir) at almost every second kilometer of every river. This corresponds to a total of more than 215,000 structures. They are primarily used to control the flow velocity for various purposes.

  • 416

    416 is the number of the new Leipzig city district to be built, where blue-green-red infrastructures will be implemented and tested over the next few years.

  • 121-128

    The average water consumption in Germany is around 121 to 128 liters per person per day. This figure refers to the drinking water used in households for showering, bathing, cooking, cleaning, and flushing toilets.

  • 7.200

    The average indirect water consumption (also known as "virtual water") in Germany is around 7,200 liters per person per day. Most of this comes from abroad. 

  • 10

    Due to discharges (drainage water from open-cast mining), the Erft is a comparatively warm body of water, whose temperature often does not fall below 10 degrees even in winter.

  • 1

    We only have this one planet. We should conserve its water resources and protect it for future generations. To do this, we need very good resource management. 

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