The Rhine is getting narrower and narrower due to the drought. The water level dropped to zero just before the Dutch border. There is no constant rain for a fundamental trend reversal. However, the Rhine level is no longer falling as much as before at a number of measuring points.
Cologne/Bonn (dpa/lnw) - The drought has led to a record low level in the Rhine near Emmerich just before the Dutch border with a level of zero. However, at the measuring points south of Emmerich in North Rhine-Westphalia, the sharp decline of the past week did not continue to the same extent on Tuesday. According to the Rhine Waterways and Shipping Authority, this does not mean a fundamental turnaround. It would have to rain more for that. Even without negative records at other NRW measuring points, the low water level causes considerable problems for shipping. Many inland vessels can only be partially loaded.
In Bonn, the water level fell one centimeter on Tuesday morning compared to Monday morning, according to an overview by the Rhine Waterways and Shipping Office. Two centimeters less than 24 hours earlier were measured in Cologne. The level of 74 centimeters is only five centimeters above the low of October 2018. In Düsseldorf, the level remained constant at 34 centimeters compared to Monday morning. That's eleven centimeters above the historic low. In Duisburg-Ruhrort, Wesel and Rees, the decrease is one or two centimeters within 24 hours.
The water levels are not to be confused with the lowest point in the river. The fairways for commercial shipping are significantly deeper than the water level according to the gauge. This only shows the difference between the water surface and the so-called zero level, which is not at the deepest point of the river bed. On Monday, the fairway near Emmerich was still almost two meters deep.
The value 0.0 was determined in Emmerich on Tuesday morning, said an employee of the waterways and shipping administration of the dpa. That is a drop of four centimeters from Monday morning's measurement. As early as Monday afternoon, only two centimeters had been measured. The previous low was on October 30, 2018 with a daily average of seven centimeters. The daily low was four centimeters at that time. Even if the actual level meter dries up due to the low water, even minus values can be recorded with a second data collector in Emmerich.
