Low Water on the Rhine, Elbe, and Danube: Inland Shipping Must Reduce Cargo

The immediate consequences for cargo shipping are severe: "Binnenschiffe können derzeit weniger Ladung aufnehmen als bei höheren Wasserständen," the Bundesverband der Deutschen Binnenschifffahrt (BDB) says. The lower transport volumes per vessel lead to rising transport costs along the supply chain. At the same time, more ships are deployed to move the same quantity of goods, which is why a higher volume of shipping is often observed on the Rhine during low water than under normal conditions.

Andreas Bartel of the Duisburg port "Duisport" confirms corresponding problems for shipping. "Die Folge sind geringere Transportmengen pro Schiff und damit steigende Transportkosten entlang der Lieferkette." For now, however, inland shipping is proving resilient and is shifting to rail transport, for example.

Despite the bottlenecks, there are so far no official closures imposed by the WSV. As Fabian Spieß, deputy managing director of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Binnenschifffahrt (BDB), reports, inland shipping continues to carry out freight transports even during low water. Florian Krekel, head of the Shipping Division at the WSV, sums it up: "Die Schifffahrt fährt, solange es sicher möglich ist."

No Quick Improvement in Sight

A turnaround is not in sight anytime soon. Reliable forecasts for water levels cannot look any further ahead than weather forecasts, because ultimately water levels are merely a summary of the precipitation in the respective catchment area, Florian Krekel emphasizes. The fundamental picture of the rivers will only change when there is heavy rainfall across the entire catchment area of the respective rivers, or at least across large parts of it. This is currently not foreseeable, however.

The Edersee Also Affected

The situation is also coming to a head at the Edersee in northern Hesse. Due to the ongoing drought, the Edersee is currently filled to not even one-third of its capacity. On Thursday morning, the water level stood at around 29 percent, corresponding to somewhat more than 58 million cubic meters of water. With a storage volume of 200 million cubic meters, the Edersee is Germany's third-largest reservoir and is located in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district.

Compared to the likewise unusually dry previous year, when the lake was still more than 40 percent full at the same time, the decline is markedly more pronounced. The dam at the Edersee serves primarily to regulate the water levels of the Weser and the Mittelland Canal, as well as for flood protection along the lower Eder, Fulda, and Weser. In addition, energy is generated at the dam by hydropower, and the water is used for navigation on the Weser as well as for tourism and water sports in the northern Hesse holiday region.

Due to ongoing construction work on the dam, the Edersee was already deliberately kept slightly below full capacity in the spring. Additional water releases were intended to prevent water from flowing over the dam and impairing the construction work. In northern Hesse, the sun is expected to shine for up to 14 hours on Thursday; over the weekend, conditions are forecast to be cloudy but dry, according to the forecast.

Edersee Atlantis and Historical Traces

One consequence of the low water level is the early emergence of the so-called Edersee Atlantis. The village sites of Alt-Bringhausen and Berich are also slowly becoming visible. The Asel Bridge is already exposed and can be crossed, while the Bringhausen Bridge and the dam model are still under water. Normally, the Edersee reveals its submerged structures only in autumn — this year, due to the lack of rainfall, they are appearing significantly earlier.

Historically, the low water level is reminiscent of an event from 1913: at that time, during the construction of the Edersee dam, the three Edertal villages of Asel, Berich, and Bringhausen were flooded, and around 900 residents had to be resettled. The question of water distribution at the Edersee has been a political issue for years.

Looking to the future, Andreas Bartel of the Duisburg port warns: "Der Klimawandel wird dazu führen, dass Phasen mit Niedrigwasser künftig häufiger auftreten können." As a result, the current situation may be less of an exception than a foretaste of summers to come.