By Brian Wingfield
Aug 14, 2022 (Bloomberg) –The water level at a key waypoint on the Rhine River is poised to steady at an extremely low level this week, as a climate crisis compounds Europe’s worst energy supply crunch in years.
The marker at Kaub, a narrow and shallow point west of Frankfurt, is set to drop to 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) by Monday and hold near that level until at least Aug. 18, the latest German government data show. A forecast on Saturday showed it dipping slightly below the 30-centimeter mark in the coming week.
The Rhine is western Europe’s most important river for the transport of fuel and other industrial goods. Many barges find it uneconomical to transit past Kaub when the water level there is at 40 centimeters or below. It’s currently at about 35 centimeters. The marker is not the actual depth of the river, but rather a measure for navigability.
© 2022 Bloomberg L.P.
This article contains reporting from Bloomberg, published under license.
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Water levels on the Rhine river are dwindling further, with no relief in sight, forcing companies that rely on the waterway to adjust rapidly to keep goods flowing.
Europe’s first meaningful rains in weeks are unlikely to be widespread or sustained enough to quickly raise critically-low river levels, prolonging costly shipping and power supply restrictions as another spell of heat threatens to build.
The Panama Canal is not planning vessel passage restrictions for the remainder of 2026 even if an El Niño weather pattern begins in the second half of the year as predicted, potentially leading to another drought in the Central American country, the waterway told Reuters.
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