Deep water for more beautiful Christmas trees

A farmer digs a well, but is not allowed to do so.

The dispute is now going to court, there is a lot of money at stake.

The owner of the Tannenhof Oberweilbach has sued the district of Dachau.

Reason: The district office had ordered the dismantling of an unapproved well on the property, as this endangered the drinking water supply of the citizens.

Now the administrative court has to decide.

According to the Dachau District Office, this is exactly what happened in the case of the well that was built on the Tannenhof Oberweilbach.

Farmer Stefan Spennesberger applied for a well for his 22 hectare Christmas tree cultivation between Pellheim and Hebertshausen in 2016.

However, he began to build the well while the approval process was still in progress.

What the farmer had probably not expected: The test procedure, which according to the district office had taken place with the help of the water management office, ended with a rejection.

The well, which is enclosed by a building and thus closed, is too deep and touches the deep groundwater.

This deep groundwater, however, is taboo for water abstraction: "Nobody is allowed to go there without ifs and buts," explains District Office spokeswoman Sina Török.

When it comes to the approval of a well, the fundamental question is whether it extends to the - permitted - depth 1. Or whether it goes deeper, the so-called depth 2. This is where the deep groundwater is located, which is "extremely worthy of protection" and which "ensures that future generations will still have drinking water". That means, summarized by Török as follows: “You can already drill a well and tap the water at depth 1.” But if water is taken from depth 2 for the Christmas trees, “then it has a lasting effect on the drinking water supply”. The request to dismantle the too deep well including the Brunnenhäusl was therefore only logical. However, press spokeswoman Török admits that the farmer had little choice when it came to drilling: "In this area, depth 1 is practically non-existent."

The farmer himself did not want to comment when asked.

It is an "ongoing procedure", about which he "does not want to provide any information".

What is certain is that he is defending himself against the officially imposed dismantling order.

From an economic point of view, according to Spennesberger, the dismantling is "a disaster".

On Tuesday, December 14th, at 9 a.m., a public hearing will take place in front of the Munich Administrative Court.