Ancient springs in the mountain range are drying up. Affected farmers see the cause in the construction of the tunnel. For ÖBB, however, it is climate change.
When the cattle in Erwin H.’s barn are thirsty, they now drink tap water. That increases the costs. “I have to buy a few hundred cubic meters, that’s quite a lot,” says H. in an ORF interview. In the past, agriculture near Raach im Hochgbirge, district of Neunkirchen, was supplied by the farm’s own spring. But this has dried up. H. attributes this to the Semmering Base Tunnel, which is being hewn through the rock about 1.5 kilometers away. Farmer Franz E. is struggling with the same problem near Schottwien. Its water source suddenly dried up last autumn – and the construction site near Göstritz, where the last section of the Semmering Base Tunnel is currently being dug, is in sight. E. also had to be connected to the network. ÖBB blames climate change However: ÖBB uses the fact that its source has been bubbling up again for almost a week to support its line of argument. Climate change has dried up the springs, and due to the heavy rainfall in recent weeks, water is now flowing again. E. sees it differently: It’s rainwater – but the mountain water that fed the spring for centuries is gone. ÖBB emphasizes that the tunnel construction works strictly according to all official specifications. And thanks to years of research, we know exactly which subterranean water veins are affected – the sources of the farmers are not. In any case, the assumption of the farmers’ costs for the connections to the public mains was rejected.
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