News in the Netherlands has been full of articles about the low water level in the Rhine. Looking out of the tram window as we crossed the Rhine at Basel this morning, the water level isn't looking very low here. I'm guessing there's some sort of weir that is keeping the level up here. Plus a shit ton of abstraction down river.
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@quixoticgeek The Rhine navigable through Basel so there can't be a weir, but there is a big reservoir up stream, called Bodensee 😉
Although water levels are lower there too, and there are reports of problems at the harbours on Bodensee at present too...
@kim_harding no locks on the Rhine ?
There's plenty of locks on the Rhine, 4 sets between Basel and Breisach for starters...
@yorkie @kim_harding then it's possible to have weirs and keep things navigable...
@quixoticgeek We had very heavy rainfalld in the South which gave the Rhine more water again, it's not anymore at the minimum. Also, the problem with the sand banks is a quite small region compared to the whole river. But this small part is enough to block ships.
@NatureMC south of Switzerland? Or south of Germany? The problem in the Netherlands is less about the sand bars, and more that if we don't get enough freshwater coming down stream, we start to have problems with salt water going upstream.
@quixoticgeek Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland around Basel at least, I don't know how much to the north the thunderstorms reached. I heard it in the news that ships can pass again.
