"Extreme Measure"

Drought: First Municipality Cuts Off Drinking Water

The rain over the past few hours has not alleviated the situation.(Bild: Gabriele Moser)

This has probably never happened before in Styria: Because water is running low, a municipality in the north of the state is now shutting off the water supply at night. Officials are urgently appealing to residents to conserve every liter.

What was previously unimaginable in water-rich Austria is now becoming a reality: Due to an acute water shortage, the municipality of Gaishorn am See (Liezen district, Styria) has been cutting off the public water supply every night between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. since this week. According to information from the “Krone,” this is likely the first municipality in Austria to be forced to take this step. At the end of June, the Lower Austrian municipality of Pöggstall had made a similar announcement but never actually implemented it.

Please use drinking water only for essential purposes. Reduce your consumption to the absolute minimum.

Bürgermeister Werner Haberl

“Please use drinking water exclusively for essential purposes,” Mayor Werner Haberl urges residents on the municipality’s website. Watering flowers, watering the lawn, washing cars, or filling pools are off-limits until further notice. This is the only way to ensure that the elevated water tanks are sufficiently refilled overnight and that the drinking water supply is secured during the day.

Officials are providing updates via the municipality’s website, among other channels.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Gemeinde Gaishorn)

In the event of a fire, the rule remains: Turn on the water!
Florian Dormann of the Gaishorn Volunteer Fire Department emphasizes that, despite the nightly shutoffs, no one needs to worry about a shortage of water. “Someone is manning the control panel around the clock and can be called upon immediately in an emergency,” he says in response to a question from “Krone.” In addition, the firefighting plan calls for tanker trucks from neighboring municipalities to provide assistance. “The people in Trieben, for example, have a deep well; they’ll help us out in an emergency.” For the 22-year-old, the situation is unprecedented: “I’ve also spoken with our 80-year-old colleagues—no one can remember a drought like this.”

A fee increase is on the table
However, the neighboring municipality of Trieben isn’t getting through the summer without its own problems either. Although a deep well provides most of the water supply there, spring flow has declined sharply in the Dietmannsdorf district. “We’ve already had to lay a bypass pipeline from Trieben town to that area,” explains Mayor Klaus-Emmerich Herzmaier. He cites not only the drought but also the lack of snowmelt as causes.

For many people, something that costs nothing is apparently worth nothing. That’s why we now have to consider raising water rates.

Bürgermeister Klaus-Emmerich Herzmaier

Bild: Gaishorn am See

The mayor points out another aspect related to the drought that is likely to concern many municipalities in the coming years: the cost of water supply. “I think very few people realize how expensive this is for us as a municipality,” says Herzmaier. To secure the water supply in the long term, two new springs are currently being tapped. This alone requires investments of up to 140,000 euros. Because appeals to reason often fall on deaf ears, the municipality is now even considering higher water rates. “Drinking water is for drinking—not for washing cars or watering lawns.”

Car washing prohibited
The situation is consistent with current data: Austria recorded significantly less precipitation in the first half of 2026 than the long-term average. At the same time, water levels in numerous rivers are unusually low. Other places are taking action as well: In Munich, for example, a ban on filling private pools is in effect until early August, and car washing is also prohibited there during the day.