The cows of Paul Schots in Son en Breugel are grazing in a green meadow. His corn is also healthy. The farmer does not have to worry about the ongoing drought. Bavaria’s residual water is pumped into its soil via underground hoses. “I’m lucky with this water.”
Due to the persistent drought, there is a shortage of surface water. The National Water Shortage Management Team (LMW) will therefore take water-saving measures from Wednesday, which will also affect agriculture. Farmers can therefore suffer from the water shortage, which endangers their harvest.
That does not apply to farmer Paul. His organic dairy farming is in good shape and he owes that to Bavaria.
“Green grass even in dry periods.”
“In addition to beer, they also produce a lot of residual water. Normally that would flow into the sea via the Wilhelmina Canal, making it completely useless,” he explains. “Through hoses under the ground, that purified residual water now ends up in my soil. As a result, my grass and maize also grow during dry periods.”
In wet periods, Bavaria’s water is stored so that a buffer is created. “We can also water surrounding nature reserves with this.”
“The cows had nothing to eat after two hours.”
Before Paul got help from Bavaria, the hot and dry days looked different. “Then I left my cows in the meadow at 7:30 in the morning and they had to go back into the barn at half past nine because there was no more grass. The fields then looked empty, dry and barren.”
The farmer hopes that his system will also become available to other farmers. “Many water treatment plants create residual water. If they make this available to farmers, everyone will be helped.”
Simply pumping water from canals, rivers, streams or ditches is not allowed due to an abstraction ban. Paul therefore praises himself richly with his installation. “I’m lucky with this water. That way we can also get a lot done on dry sandy soils.”
Incidentally, Paul is not the only one who has that luxury. Tree and plant grower Remco Beekers from Breda is now also allowed to irrigate with groundwater that he pumps up himself. But there are still a few things to consider, he explains.
“I’m lucky that I can irrigate with groundwater, and I have to.”
“You have to let all those vegetables and plants grow well. Drought is difficult anyway. That’s why you see that we in the sector pay a lot of attention to the soil. It has to be of good quality so that it retains water. Then you have less need water. It’s all connected.”
His own company pumps water from the ground itself. You can still do that. But suppose the government no longer allows that either, what should Remco do then?
“I’m lucky that I can irrigate with groundwater, and I have to. If I can’t irrigate for three days, I can close the tent. Then my plants won’t survive. Then there is nothing left. it’s just done,” he concludes.