Record lows on Rhine, Danube and Po disrupt Europe's freight and power

Romania’s only nuclear plant shuts as Danube runs low

A series of severe heatwaves and prolonged droughts have turned many European riverbeds into barren sandscapes this summer, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of satellite imagery and river gage records. The Journal calculated a water index from satellite data to highlight surface water, mapping the change in European rivers from the same time last year.

The Rhine, Western Europe’s principal economic artery, fell to just 9½ inches at the critical shipping bottleneck of Kaub, Germany, this summer, severely restricting inland freight transport. At one point, the gage on that stretch reached below three inches. Vessels could still navigate, but with much smaller loads that made the transits less economically viable. In some parts of the river, conditions forced ships to carry as little as 20% of normal capacity, raising shipping costs and disrupting supply chains.

The Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, flows through 10 countries from Germany to the Black Sea. Falling levels have disrupted navigation and power generation along its course and placed additional stress on regional water resources.

Water levels in the Danube have become so low that the river can no longer supply the cooling water needed for Romania’s only nuclear power plant. The Cernavodă plant, which supplies about a fifth of Romania’s power demands, shut down in mid-August after the military’s attempts to divert more water toward the plant using explosives were unsuccessful, the Journal reported.

In Hungary, water shortages have put the Paks plant — which generates about 40% of the country’s electricity — on the threshold of a shutdown.

Italy’s longest river, the Po, is essential for irrigating farmland. The river’s retreat makes it vulnerable to the incursion of sea water from the Adriatic, posing a threat to crops, according to the analysis.

The low water follows a wetter-than-average winter across most of Southern and Western Europe. Soils quickly dried out under the intensity and length of repeated heatwaves since May, the Journal reported, and most of the rain that does eventually fall will be absorbed by the parched ground before it can replenish rivers, exacerbating the problem.

The drought across large parts of Europe helped fuel devastating wildfires in France and Spain in July, the Journal reported. Forecasts indicate that hot and dry conditions are likely to persist through August and into September, according to the European Commission.

Gage levels, measured relative to a fixed reference point, came from Germany’s Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration at Kaub and from eDelta.ro at Cernavodă, with 2026 readings through Aug. 17. The Journal’s water index drew on imagery from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites, and the European Drought Observatory tracked drought conditions as of Aug. 1.