Articles | Volume 25, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2783-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2783-2025
Research article
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19 Aug 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 19 Aug 2025

Groundwater recharge in Brandenburg is declining – but why?

Till Francke and Maik Heistermann

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Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-546,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-546, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
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Cited articles

Altdorff, D., Heistermann, M., Francke, T., Schrön, M., Attinger, S., Bauriegel, A., Beyrich, F., Biró, P., Dietrich, P., Eichstädt, R., Grosse, P. M., Markert, A., Terschlüsen, J., Walz, A., Zacharias, S., and Oswald, S. E.: Brief Communication: A new drought monitoring network in the state of Brandenburg (Germany) using cosmic-ray neutron sensing, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3848, 2024. a, b
Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg: Statistischer Bericht, C IV 11 – u/09, Bewässerung in landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben im Land Brandenburg 2009, Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-slbp/files/3102/SB_C04_11_00_2009u00_BB.pdf (last access: 9 May 2025), 2012. a
Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg: Flächenerhebung nach Art der tatsächlichen Nutzung in Berlin und Brandenburg, Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, https://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/a-v-3-j (last access: 6 January 2025), 2023. a
Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg: Pressemitteilung Nr. 71, Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, https://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/071-2024 (last access: 9 May 2025), 2024. a
Anderson, K., Hansen, C., Holmgren, W., Jensen, A., Mikofski, M., and Driesse, A.: pvlib python: 2023 project update, Journal of Open Source Software, 8, 5994, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.05994, 2024. a
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Executive editor
This paper addresses an important research question for the region of interest in the special issue, "Current and future water-related risks in the Berlin-Brandenburg region." The article analyzes groundwater trends using a rigorous methodology that takes into account all factors that could justify the results found. It is therefore highly relevant for water resource management, which is particularly affected by climate change.
Short summary
Brandenburg is among the driest federal states in Germany. The low groundwater recharge (GWR) is fundamental to both water supply and the support of natural ecosystems. In this study, we show that the decline of observed discharge and groundwater tables since 1980 can be explained by climate change in combination with an increasing leaf area index. Still, simulated GWR rates remain highly uncertain due to the uncertainty in precipitation trends.
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