Bajos niveles de agua en río Rin generan preocupación
Low levels of the Rhine river worry about the delivery of supplies in Germany
BERLIN, (Xinhua) — German industry is concerned about the disruption to supplies as the ongoing drought has pushed the water in the Rhine River to very low record levels, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) said on Monday.
«Companies are preparing for the worst,» BDI deputy managing director Holger Loesch said in a statement. «The already tense economic situation in the companies is getting worse.»
«It is only a matter of time before chemical or steel plants are closed, mineral oils and construction materials stop reaching their destination, or large volumes and heavy transport no longer can be carried out,» Loesch said.
The Rhine Waterways and Navigation Office (WSA) said today that the situation in the middle section of the Rhine, where the river is shallower, remains tense.
The water level in Kaub currently stands at 32 centimeters, which equates to a channel depth of just 1.44 meters.
DUSSELDORF, (Xinhua) — Picture taken on July 26, 2022 of the Rhine river in Dusseldorf, Germany. The water level of the Rhine river has fallen due to high temperatures and drought. (Xinhua/Ulrich Hufnagel)
Rhine River
If water levels at the Kaub monitoring station remain below the critical 78-centimeter mark over a 30-day period, industrial production in Europe’s second-largest economy will drop by about one percent, the World Bank warned last week. Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
«We have to face the fact that in the long term we are going to have to adapt again and again to extreme low-water situations due to climate change,» Digital Affairs and Transport Minister Volker Wissing said on Monday. Rheinische Post newspaper.
WSA said water levels in the Rhine are expected to rise slightly in the coming days, but «the 14-day forecast indicates water levels will drop slightly again after the wave has passed.»
