Advisor, Energy and water, The region and us

The water traffic light is still green at the start of the year

SWK’s water traffic light provides early information on the status of the drinking water supply. It is still green at the beginning of the new year. An important criterion for the water traffic light is the level of the Lauterspring spring, which we constantly monitor.

Bachlauf im Pfälzer Wald (Bereich Hammertal, Moosalbe), klares Wassr fließt in einem niedrigen Bachlauf bei schönem Wetter durch den Sommerwald.

The Palatinate Forest with the Lauterspring spring and its 23 deep groundwater wells still provides a reliable supply of water. In total, SWK extracts around 7.5 million cubic meters of water from the groundwater every year using its own water extraction facilities. The water traffic light is therefore green.

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Looking back at the precipitation - Lauterspring as an indicator 

Even with a green water traffic light, we always keep an eye on the amount of precipitation and, as a result, on the flow rate of the spring, such as the Lauterspring.

Above-average precipitation was recorded in 2023 and 2024. However, 2025 followed on from the previous dry years.

  • 2023 was a very wet year in Kaiserslautern: 890 l/sqm of precipitation means around 20% more precipitation than the long-term average (1961-1990).
  • 2024 was an intensive rainfall year, which positively stimulated groundwater recharge. Kaiserslautern can look back on 941 l/sqm of precipitation in 2024.
  • In 2025, there has only been around 680 l/sqm of precipitation so far (as of 09.12.). The last winter was below average. Spring was even one of the driest since records began. The summer was also below average and there was also less precipitation than average in November.
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The values of the Lauterspring at a glance

Precipitation affects the flow rate of the spring and the water level of the 23 deep wells in and around Kaiserslautern. With a delay of approx. 3 months to the rainfall, the spring and its flow rates take over. Below you can see the development of the water volume (in liters per second) of the Lauterspring:

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In 2023, the discharge of the Lauterspring had fallen to an average of 51.3 l/s due to the dry previous years.

While the 2024 spring temporarily had a very high discharge due to the rainy years 2023 and 2024 (peak value in July 2024 102.7 l/s), this has decreased again since the early summer of this year – especially in the second half of the year after the dry spring and below-average summer. In December, we reached the lowest value of the year to date of 47.7 l/s. An annual average of 66.2 l means that the water traffic light is still green.

Together for the region - please support us!

We will continue to keep you informed about the status of the traffic lights in many ways. Especially when the traffic light phases change. We will keep you continuously informed about the current situation on the SWK blog. You will also receive information on our social media channels and, if necessary, in the daily press or on the radio.

Please be mindful of your water consumption. In this way, you can make a valuable contribution to a safe and sustainable water supply in our region, even when the water traffic light is green.

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