€6m Annual Budget Allocated to Regional Cooperation Measures for Drinking Water

Luxembourg's authorities have allocated a budget of €6 million per year to support drinking water measures.

The Luxembourg government has given priority to regional cooperation between drinking water providers in light of increasing pressure on this essential resource.

The region including drinking water suppliers in and around the Natur- & Geopark Mëllerdall is one of seven nationally identified regions in this context. Indeed, water in the Mullerthal region comes exclusively from regional groundwater sources that flow largely from Luxembourg's sandstone. This local resource is sufficient to supply all the drinking water networks of the eleven member communities of the Natur- & Geopark Mëllerdall without the need for an "external" resource. However, this drinking water resource is under pressure.

Consequently, in September 2018, these regional suppliers signed a collaboration agreement with the Minister of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, Carole Dieschbourg. Four non-member municipalities of the Natur- & Geopark Mëllerdall also expressed an interest in participating in this regional collaboration. 

The situation in the Mullerthal region reflects the situation at the national level, where drinking water accumulates sufficient to supply 75,000 inhabitants of drinking water are out of service due to the presence of nitrates and metabolites of crop protection products.

Luxembourg's authorities thus decided that a safe drinking water supply could only be guaranteed by the implementation of preventive measures in the protected areas defined around the catchment of drinking water. In addition to the mandatory measures set out in Grand Duchy regulations, the legislation provides that drinking water providers have the opportunity to establish and implement a programme including voluntary measures. These voluntary measures include adapting existing infrastructure to existing standards in protection areas, setting up agricultural co-operation or raising awareness campaigns. Monitoring of the effectiveness of the measures implemented is also planned. Participation in voluntary measures implies a derogation from the mandatory measures established by Grand Ducal Regulations. 

On Thursday 21 November 2019, the Accompanying Committee of the Mullerthal regional cooperation held its first meeting. In order to facilitate the management of measurement programmes at the regional level, a facilitator, Rachel Krier, has been working at the Natur- & Geopark Mëllerdall since 1 May 2019. This position is 100% funded by the Water Management Fund for the first two years and then 75% during the following years. Other voluntary measures are eligible for co-financing of up to 75% by the same fund. In total, a budget of €6 million per year is planned to support these measures.