No rain - experts: "extraordinary location on water bodies"

Created: 08/08/2022, 12:20 p.m

The dry riverbed of the Dreisam can be seen near Teningen.

© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa/image archive

At Marc Freiwald, precision work is required.

The ferry operator is still on the Rhine, but he doesn't have much water under his keel anymore.

The Rhine, Neckar and Danube, as well as smaller rivers, carry less water than they have for a long time.

Karlsruhe – The rivers and lakes in Baden-Württemberg have had less water than they have for many years after weeks of largely rainless periods.

Without further precipitation, numerous bodies of water in Baden-Württemberg will approach low records in the coming days, as can be seen from the current figures from the Baden-Württemberg State Institute for the Environment (LUBW) in Karlsruhe on Monday.

The experts spoke of an “extraordinary low water situation in the country”.

The water levels on the Rhine, Neckar and Danube are mostly below the lowest water level in an average year.

Such a so-called mean low water is currently being measured at around 80 percent of the gauges in the country due to the persistent drought.

Both small and medium-sized watercourses in the country and the large rivers are affected.

In mid-July, the proportion of levels with low water was still 70 percent according to LUBW information.

According to the state institute, the outflow at the Maxau Rhine level is at its lowest level in 40 years.

It doesn't look any better on Lake Constance: the water level at the Konstanz gauge was 316 centimeters on Monday, which is around 90 centimeters less than usual for the time of year.

According to the LUBW, there were fewer on August 8th at the Konstanz gauge in 2003.

"With the current water level, the lake level is at a level that is usually not reached until the second half of October," say the experts from the state institute.

Shipping and business cannot rely on the snowmelt in the Alps this year either: it was said to have been largely completed very early this year.

The summer glacier melt does not play a major role.

That is why the lack of precipitation of the past few weeks and months is now also having a “very clear” effect in the Rhine.

According to figures from the LUBW, from January to July only around 70 percent of the precipitation that is usual in the long-term average (1961-1990) for this period fell in Baden-Württemberg.

In fact, last July it was only about a third of what is usually the case this month.

At the same time it is above average hot.

The ferries have stopped operating in rows, especially on the Rhine.

For others, it could be so far in the coming days.

Thousands of commuters and ferry users have to be prepared for long detours.

Among other things, the ferries between Mannheim in northern Baden and Altrip in Rhineland-Palatinate as well as between Brühl (Rhein-Neckar district) and Kollerinsel are at a standstill.

The connection between Leimersheim in Rhineland-Palatinate and Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen in Baden-Württemberg (Karlsruhe district) is still unusable.

The "Baden-Pfalz" ferry, on the other hand, continues to commute between Neuburg in the Palatinate and Neuburgweier, which belongs to Rheinstetten (Karlsruhe district).

"We are 110 centimeters deep and still have 10 centimeters of air," says operator Marc Freiwald.

"As the forecast sounds, we can still drive tomorrow, after that it will be tight." The Neckarhausen ferry on the Neckar still has a few centimeters left.

However, the German weather service predicts hardly any rain.

In contrast to high water, there are no requirements for ships on the Rhine when water levels are low.

Captains decide for themselves how long they can steer their ship at low tide.

dpa