In two years' time, a massive hole in the heart of Berlin will become the German capital's biggest reservoir, capturing an increasingly precious resource -- water. Once a swamp centuries ago, Berlin has gone from a city trying to keep its abundant groundwater from overflowing to one scrambling to keep its forests green.
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00:00I don't know if you can see it on the TV, but there are a lot of birds here.
00:30The city of Schwamm helps us when we have a climate change, because then there is even more rain or we have even longer periods that are dry.
00:45So the city of Schwamm helps us to keep the rainwater on site, to make it available for the vegetation. It also helps us to treat drinking water more gently, so that we use less drinking water.
00:58And of course it also helps to reduce overflow. It doesn't get rid of the overflow, but it helps to reduce the overflow.
01:15And what is special is that the rainwater is completely managed on site. It is collected here on green roofs, in irrigation mounds and then mostly in this rainwater basin.
01:38When you drive in, it's stuffy, it's hot. And you notice the difference, also through the watercourses, that it's just cooler. The humidity is a bit higher. It's much more pleasant.
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