See How Europe’s Rivers Are Drying Up and Threatening Its Economy
Intense heat and lack of rain have driven water levels across the continent to record lows
A series of severe heatwaves and prolonged droughts have turned many European riverbeds into barren sandscapes this summer.
Major arteries for trade and agriculture across the continent—including the Rhine, Danube and Po—are now at record low levels, disrupting freight transportation, forcing nuclear power plants to shut reactors and eroding agricultural productivity.
The Wall Street Journal analyzed European rivers using satellite imagery to calculate a water index that highlights surface water. The following maps show the change in surface water from this time last year: The less water, the lighter the colors seen.
Power generation
Water levels in the Danube have become so low that the river can no longer supply the cooling water needed for Romania’s only nuclear power plant.
The Cernavodă plant, which supplies about a fifth of Romania’s power demands, shut down in mid-August after the military’s attempts to divert more water toward the plant using explosives didn’t pay off.
At Hungary’s Paks plant, which generates about 40% of the country’s electricity, water shortages have put the facility on the threshold of a shutdown.
Logistics
In some parts of the Rhine, Western Europe’s principal economic artery, conditions have forced vessels to carry loads as little as 20% of normal capacity, raising shipping costs and disrupting the supply chain.
Agriculture
Italy’s longest river, the Po, is essential for irrigating farmland. The river’s retreat makes it vulnerable to the incursion of sea water from the Adriatic, posing a threat to crops.
The Rhine fell to just 9½ inches at the critical shipping bottleneck of Kaub, Germany, this summer, severely restricting inland freight transport. At one point, the gage measurement on that stretch of the river reached below three inches. Vessels could still navigate, but with much smaller loads, making the transits less economically viable.
Meanwhile, falling levels in the Danube—Europe’s second-longest river, flowing through 10 countries from Germany to the Black Sea—have disrupted navigation and power generation, while placing additional stress on regional water resources.
Despite a wetter-than-average winter in most of Southern and Western Europe, soils quickly dried out under the intensity and length of repeated heatwaves since May. Most of the rain that does eventually fall will be absorbed by the parched ground before it can replenish rivers, exacerbating the problem.
The drought across large parts of Europe helped fuel devastating wildfires in France and Spain in July, and there is no respite in sight. Forecasts indicate that hot and dry conditions are likely to persist through August and into September, according to the European Commission.