Mainz (dpa / lrs) – According to experts, the low water risk on the Rhine has not yet been averted for 2019 – but can hardly be expected. “The occurrence of particular extremes in the rest of the year is not very likely,” said Jörg Uwe Belz from the Federal Institute of Hydrology. Overall, there were relatively few low water problems on the Rhine this year, in contrast to other German river basins.
“In July, and especially in September, shipping was hampered by low water levels,” said Belz. “But this mainly affected larger ships with a corresponding draft.”
Low water had caused massive problems for nature and the economy on the Rhine in 2018. Cargo ships could only be loaded to two thirds or less. Factories in particular, which are supplied with raw materials via the Rhine, had to cut their production – for example the chemical company BASF in Ludwigshafen. The Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Economics and Transport Volker Wissing (FDP) is campaigning for a 20 cm deepening in a few places in the Rhine.
In the first half of 2019, there were no restrictions in shipping to the extent of the previous year, mainly due to the high proportion of snow and ice melt in the Rhine outflow, said Belz. There were also fewer problems in the second half of the year – it rained again and again. At the important water levels in Kaub on the Middle Rhine and in Duisburg-Ruhrort, the water drain is currently below average, said Belz. Shipping is not at risk.
Rain and snow are also extremely important for groundwater. The water suppliers want more rainfall so that the groundwater reservoirs are filled. The so-called spring fillings are particularly dependent. “Compared to last summer, the more frequent precipitation this year and the wet last few weeks have not yet had a positive effect on groundwater and, in some cases, still have no positive effect on spring fillings,” said Vice-Managing Director Sebastian Exner from the State Association of Energy and Water Management Hessen / Rhineland / Palatinate (LDEW) in Mainz.
“In the past few years, the groundwater levels in the state average have been in the slightly below-average range,” said Milan Sell from the State Office for the Environment in Mainz. How these developed can only be said in March or April next year. Because in November the vegetation-free period begins and with it the time for groundwater recharge – it lasts until about April. “The rainfall in the past few months has led to a certain recovery in soil moisture.”
For nature, however, the rainfall meant a welcome relief, because the top 30 cm of soil are now well moist. “However, for something to arrive in the groundwater, there should be a lot more precipitation over the coming winter than the long-term average,” emphasized Exner.
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