"Across the region, two decades of drought have reduced winter snowpack, which creates the majority of the river's flow. At the same time, warming temperatures caused by climate change have increased water losses from evaporation."
The now-reduced water flow has forced Federal Authorities to regulate the amount of water neighboring states may draw from the river in the future, which has major impacts on agriculture and industries in regions touched by the Colorado.
That resources become limited is a dramatic turning point for the US, where continuous growth still is a leitmotif.
Here in Europe, the ongoing heat wave and lack of rain have caused several rivers to show historically low water levels.
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| The Dreisam through Freiburg (©BZ) |
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| The Dreisam has disappeared completely a few kilometers downstream (©SWR) |
The situation is more dramatic for the Rhine River. In “normal” years, 285 million metric tons of cargo pass through Europe’s busiest inland waterway. The prolonged drought is causing the Rhine's water level to drop steadily. The proud and much-praised river is now nothing more than a trickle.
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| The critical situation at Kaub (©Die Zeit) |
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| ©Wikipedia |
For comparison: The so-called Equivalent Water Level (EWL), where shipping around Kaub is unlimited, is 77 cm, while the average water level in the place over the year is 208 cm.
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| ©SWR |
Still, at an EWL of 77 cm, the Gefähr is only 190 cm deep in
some places. This means that at the actual water level of 24 cm, cargo
ships presently have only 137 cm of water depth and therefore can be loaded
only 20 to 30%.
According to the Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK),
"Below a water level of 40 cm (i.e. 153 cm depth) at Kaub, inland navigation
is not feasible." As ships can only operate with significantly reduced cargo
volumes, transport costs are driven up.
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| ©Financial Times |
The water level at the Kaub measuring station becomes
Europe's Schicksalspegel.
Red Baron is a history freak. So he relates Kaub to Field Marshal Forward, Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's crossing of the Rhine River on New Year's Day 1814 in the pursuit of Napoleon.
While people were celebrating New Year's Eve across Europe, preparations began near Kaub for one of the largest military river crossings of that era (Read more).
Russian engineers of the First Silesian Army built a pontoon bridge in the cold and fog, and in secret, because the French were to find out as late as possible where Blücher intended to cross the Rhine on his way to Waterloo. Pfalzgrafenstein Castle served as an important base and bridgehead.
Over the next five days, an entire army crossed the Rhine, comprising about 50,000 soldiers, around 15,000 horses, and 182 artillery pieces.
It was a logistical feat.
In case the Rhine runs dry, future river cruises will be handled by a
substitute bus service.
**
Red Baron is a history freak. So he relates Kaub to Field Marshal Forward, Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's crossing of the Rhine River on New Year's Day 1814 in the pursuit of Napoleon.
While people were celebrating New Year's Eve across Europe, preparations began near Kaub for one of the largest military river crossings of that era (Read more).
Russian engineers of the First Silesian Army built a pontoon bridge in the cold and fog, and in secret, because the French were to find out as late as possible where Blücher intended to cross the Rhine on his way to Waterloo. Pfalzgrafenstein Castle served as an important base and bridgehead.
Over the next five days, an entire army crossed the Rhine, comprising about 50,000 soldiers, around 15,000 horses, and 182 artillery pieces.
It was a logistical feat.
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| ©T-Online |
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