Water level in the Danube at its lowest in 30 years. Barges are sailing almost empty

On the Romanian section of the Danube, the water level has fallen to its lowest since 1996. In Serbia and Croatia, boats have become stranded in mud, while barges are carrying only a fraction of their normal cargo. Low water levels are increasingly disrupting navigation, energy production and industry. Problems are also mounting on the Rhine, the Loire and parts of Poland’s rivers.

Low water level in the Danube disrupts transport

At the marina in Novi Sad, Serbia, moored boats have become stranded in green mud following a sharp drop in the Danube’s water level. According to Reuters, sections of the Danube in Serbia and Croatia have recorded record-low water levels, exposing hundreds of square kilometres of sandy shoals and riverbed.

Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said fuel imports reached only 25 per cent of the volume planned for July because barges and tankers could use only 30-40 per cent of their cargo capacity. In the eastern part of the country, navigation is further hindered by the exposed wrecks of a German wartime flotilla sunk at the end of World War II.

Difficult conditions also prevail in Romania, where one of the reactors at the Cernavodă nuclear power plant began shutting down on 28 July due to the Danube’s low water level. The operator warned that a further decline in the river’s level could force the shutdown of the second reactor.

Earlier, Romanian farmers were subjected to restrictions on water abstraction from the river for irrigation, while aerial photographs showed herds of cattle resting on sandy islands emerging above the water surface. According to the Romanian water administration, the Danube’s discharge at the Romanian border fell to around 1,700 m³/s, compared with the average July discharge of approximately 4,700 m³/s.

Europe’s rivers are drying up and warming

The crisis on the Danube is the result of a prolonged drought across Europe, which is also affecting other major rivers. In Germany, weekend rainfall failed to improve conditions on the Rhine, and meteorologists warn that water levels will continue to decline. Meanwhile, cargo barges are transporting only 20 per cent of their normal loads, increasing logistics costs across many industries.

The most critical conditions are found at the Kaub bottleneck between Koblenz and Mainz, the narrowest section of the Rhine navigation route, where the navigable depth measured 35 cm on Monday. According to Germany’s Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV), it is expected to fall to 20 cm by the end of the week.

On the Loire, the water level was already 172 cm below the long-term average on 13 July, and the downward trend continues. Water temperatures in many locations are approaching 30°C. Combined with low flows and deteriorating oxygen conditions, this increases the risk of fish kills.

Low water level in the San halts water supplies

According to IMGW-PIB, low water levels were recorded at 62 per cent of hydrological stations across Poland at the end of July. Last week, the water level at the Nisko gauging station on the San fell below the threshold required to maintain industrial water abstraction. As a result, industrial water supplies from the EkoSan network were temporarily suspended, affecting 65 customers in the Stalowa Wola industrial zone. A similar suspension occurred two years ago, and previously 18 years earlier.

Industrial water supplies have now resumed. However, the water level remains close to the critical threshold at 91 cm. At some gauging stations, river discharge has fallen below previously recorded minimum values, including at Włodawa on the Bug, Sieradz and Burzenin on the Warta, and Kośmin on the Wieprz. Low water levels on the Vistula are particularly evident on the sections between the mouth of the Wisłoka and the mouth of the San, as well as between the mouth of the Przemsza and the mouth of the Dunajec.