They're draining our emergency reserves

According to our criticism of the construction of data centers in Germany and other EU countries three weeks ago, we received comments from our readers pointing out their enormous water consumption. In this context, the latest newsletter from Foodwatch.de drew our attention to another major consumer of our water resources. Foodwatch investigated where and under what conditions (usually a closely guarded contractual secret) beverage corporations are allowed to pump our water out of the ground. Foodwatch.de states:

The results shocked us. You can find them in our comprehensive water report, “Water Levels Fall, Sales Rise.”
First: The corporations are pumping water even in areas where it is already scarce. Nearly two-thirds of their facilities are located in regions where groundwater is already at risk of scarcity. [2] In Jessen, for example, Lidl has mineral water bottled for its private label “Saskia” — right in the middle of the drought hotspot of Saxony-Anhalt.[3] Our research shows: Baruth is not an isolated case. Baruth is part of a pattern.

Second: The problem runs deeper — in the truest sense of the word. Far below the normal groundwater level lies our iron reserve: deep groundwater. It is well-protected and clean. But it replenishes only slowly; often, it is thousands of years old. We need this reserve when all else fails. When wells run dry; when chemicals contaminate the water near the surface. Then the only water left to us is the water from deep underground.[4]

It is precisely this emergency reserve that corporations are tapping into. Red Bull and its partner Rauch are allowed to use 2.35 billion liters in Baruth every year.[5] In Jessen, Lidl’s parent company is allowed to extract over one billion liters of mineral water annually. [2] And the reserve is already shrinking: In Bavaria, authorities are measuring falling water levels even in deep aquifers.[6]

We need to realize this: Coca-Cola, Lidl, and others are turning our emergency reserve into profit — bottle by bottle — and paying next to nothing for it, sometimes nothing at all.[7] What is supposed to save us in an emergency is now sitting on supermarket shelves.

To keep it that way, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Red Bull alone spend nearly one million euros a year on lobbying.[8] Who’s standing up to them? Politicians haven’t so far. But we are. Our demand: If water becomes scarce, people must take priority over corporations. That needs to be enshrined in law.

Let’s support Foodwatch in the fight for our water, because when it comes to data centers, it’s once again large U.S. corporations that are exploiting our resources to make profits at our expense!

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

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[2] https://www.foodwatch.org/de/report-grundwasserstress-billiges-wasser-fuer-grosse-konzerne
[3] Heinrich Böll Stiftung Sachsen Anhalt: „Dürrehotspot Sachsen-Anhalt“, zuletzt abgerufen am 03.11.2026
[4] LFU Bayern: „Tiefengrundwasser“, zuletzt abgerufen am 03.11.2026
[5] Lebensmittel Praxis: „Geplantes Dosenwerk für Red Bull in Brandenburg verzögert sich “, 20.07.2026
[6] Bayerischer Landtag: „Anfragen zum Plenum, Drucksache 19/13141“, 20.07.2026
[7] ZDF heute: „Aldi-Tochter fördert Wasser zum Nulltarif - kein Einzelfall“, 23.03.2026

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