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On Wednesday 8 July 2026, Luxembourg’s Water Management Administration and the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity announced a that temporary ban on the removal or withdrawal of water from rivers, streams and surface water bodies has been introduced with immediate effect.
According to the Water Management Administration, due to the exceptionally dry weather conditions experienced over recent weeks and forecasts indicating that these conditions will continue, flow rates in the majority of the Grand Duchy’s watercourses are currently at or below the mean low flow level (MNQ) and continue to decline.
In addition, high temperatures are causing watercourses to warm significantly, while dissolved oxygen levels are falling. In many rivers and streams, critical thresholds for the survival of aquatic wildlife have already been reached or are likely to be reached in the coming days. These conditions also reduce the natural capacity of watercourses to dilute pollutants, contributing to the deterioration of the ecological quality of aquatic environments. In order to protect aquatic wildlife, a temporary ban on water abstraction has been introduced with immediate effect.
Based on the Water Management Administration’s assessment of the hydrological conditions of surface waters, the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity has suspended, with immediate effect and for an indefinite period, all currently valid authorisations permitting water abstraction from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg’s watercourses.
