A well-known wine-growing region in Lower Austria is in danger. The Traisental must be protected from drying out by a complex irrigation project. This is to be achieved with water from the Danube.
Climate change is threatening a well-known wine-growing region in Lower Austria. The project “Aqua Repono” – Latin for “water storage” – aims to protect the Traisental from drying out. “A kilometre-long pipeline will be used to transport water from the Danube to the vineyards,” says Markus Huber. The winemaker from Nußdorf ob der Traisen, St. Pölten district, is also chairman of the responsible water cooperative.
Heat makes the situation worse
As the heat increases, the situation threatens to worsen. “The higher temperatures mean that plants need more water,” says Huber. But that doesn’t exist. “Because there is increasingly frequent heavy rain. The soil cannot absorb so much water in a short time, it runs off,” explains Michaela Griesser from BOKU.
Line construction already approved
“Aqua Repono” is intended to keep the water in the region in the long term and to enable wine and fruit cultivation there in the future. Wells are being built around the Danube and the water is brought to the vineyards via pipes, where the vines are irrigated drop by drop. “The pumps are powered by solar energy,” says Huber. Construction is scheduled to begin in late autumn.
Source: Krone
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