By Michael Sauerbier
He is turning off the tap to his communities because of the Tesla factory and is causing all construction projects to fail. On Wednesday evening, the mayors of 7 municipalities surrounding Berlin wanted to vote out their water supplier boss. But it did not get to that.
Tumultuous atmosphere under the main stand of the Hoppegarten racecourse. With whistles, boos and posters, 200 citizens and employees of the water association WSE wanted to prevent the expulsion of their boss André Bähler (56). 7 of the 16 member communities had requested that he be voted out. For good reason.
The head of the water association (supplies 160,000 residents from Strausberg to Erkner) is in constant dispute with communities, the district and Brandenburg’s government. First, Bähler wanted to prevent the construction of the Tesla factory (12,000 jobs). Apparently there wasn’t enough water. Now he rejects the expansion of the factory.
Tesla’s Gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin uses much less water than approved Photo: dpa-Bildfunk
But of the 14 million cubic meters of water that the WSE could pump, it only needs a good 10 million. Tesla is allowed to use 1.8 million, but will only use around 500,000 cubic meters this year. But: “The groundwater level is falling,” warns the water association, “and Tesla’s consumption is increasing as the factory expands.”
The WSE boss therefore rejects all new construction projects in the region. “We can’t build schools and apartments,” complained Neuenhagen’s mayor Ansgar Scharnke, “we demand solutions!” “What’s so bad about standing still?” countered a Bähler supporter to applause, “when our grandchildren no longer have water?”
Around 200 supporters protested against the deselection of the WSE boss Photo: Michael Sauerbier
After an hour, Erkner’s mayor Henryk Pilz stopped the heated discussion: “We’re voting now!” In view of the impending defeat, the applicants tried in vain to postpone the vote.
The result was clear: only four mayors said yes to being voted out, ten voted no, and two abstained. Water stingy Bähler is allowed to stay – and continue to argue. His contract doesn’t end until 2028.