Water protection area; determination

Water protection areas are particularly well-suited to protecting groundwater that is extracted for drinking water purposes. Ultimately, they also serve to protect consumers. In Bavaria, precautionary drinking water protection is based on an approach consisting of several interrelated components (known as the “Bavarian Approach”). The watershed of a drinking water extraction facility is divided into three risk zones based on sensitivity. Only the particularly sensitive parts of the catchment area are officially designated as water protection areas; the remainder of the catchment area can be protected through regional planning instruments (priority and reserved areas for public water supply), through targeted risk management within the catchment area by water supply companies (WVU)—for example, through voluntary cooperation with farmers—and the consistent enforcement of general groundwater protection. However, in areas of correspondingly high sensitivity (such as in karst regions), the entire watershed may well be included in the WSG. This allows water protection areas and the impact on private land to be limited to what is absolutely necessary. The approximately 3,100 protection areas designated throughout Bavaria to date therefore account for only about 5% of the state’s total area.

Water protection areas generally consist of three protection zones:

• Zone I (catchment area):

  The catchment area protects the wells and springs and their immediate surroundings from any kind of contamination. This area is therefore fenced off and is usually the property of the water supplier. Only selected persons have access.

• Zone II (narrower protection zone): 

  This zone primarily ensures protection against contamination by pathogens. For this reason, wastewater and liquid manure must not be allowed to seep into the ground here under any circumstances. Zone II must be large enough for the groundwater to travel underground from its outer boundary to the wells for 50 days, as this is how long it takes for it to be sufficiently purified of pathogens.

• Zone III (further protection zone), sometimes subdivided into Zone IIIA and Zone IIIB:

  The zone is defined based on the watershed. It is intended to provide protection against persistent contaminants, such as those resulting from chemical accidents in the wider vicinity of water intake facilities. It also ensures that there is sufficient time to implement countermeasures following such accidents. In the case of large water protection areas, the “Extended Protection Zone” may be divided into Protection Zones III A and III B—each with different prohibitions and requirements. In Bavaria, the “Extended Protection Zone” generally does not cover the entire watershed.

The size of the protection zones is determined on a case-by-case basis based on local hydrogeological conditions. In Bavaria, special measures for drinking water protection are provided not only by water protection areas, but also by priority and reserved areas for water management, as well as through responsible risk management in the watershed by water supply companies. This allows water protection areas and the impact on private property to be limited to what is strictly necessary (“the Bavarian approach”). Consequently, the approximately 3,100 designated protection areas across Bavaria to date account for only about 5% of the state’s total area.

• Bavarian Water Act (BayWG)
• Act on the Regulation of the Water Resources (Water Resources Act - WHG)
• Art 31 BayWG
• Art. 32 BayWG

• Water management and flood protection in Bavaria

• Water supply system; notification of construction, commissioning, modification, transfer of ownership or decommissioning