Groundwater levels dropped everywhere
The new figures from the Flemish Environment Agency show that the past dry weeks have consequences for groundwater levels in Flanders. While in April only 51% of the measuring points had low to very low groundwater levels for the time of year, on 1 May this was 67% of the measuring points.
30% had a normal water table and 3% had a high (2%) to very high (1%) water table for the time of year. All this is less good than in 2021, but comparable to May 2020 and therefore less dramatic than some have claimed in recent days, says Flemish Minister for the Environment Zuhal Demir. “We are better prepared than two years ago. Not only is there the Blue Deal, with which we are already working on resilience to climate change in more than 110 places in Flanders, the water companies now have plans for security of supply and guarantee that they can bridge a longer period of drought. In previous years we weren’t sure about that at all.”
The Flemish Drought Commission only meets in the event of a persistent drought (code orange). We are not at that stage yet.