Detonating a riverbed and sinking barges. Welcome to Europe’s increasingly desperate efforts to keep one of the continent’s most important waterways working.
The Danube River reached dramatically low water levels this month, sending EU governments scrambling. Romanian authorities used explosives to steer more water toward the Cernavodă nuclear plant. The Hungarian government submerged vessels in a bid to keep water flowing past its own Paks nuclear plant. Some 180 tourists in Bulgaria had to be evacuated from a stranded ship near the port city of Vidin.
There’s a lot at stake. The Danube, Europe’s second-longest waterway, is a vital artery for freight, drinking water, agriculture and industry. It helps cool major nuclear plants and feeds hydropower projects. The river basin stretches across 19 countries and supports tens of millions of people. But recurring drought, driven by climate change, threatens to change all that.
“The prediction is that this will occur more often, and we need to look more systematically at water availability, water demands, and of course retention and resilience,” said Birgit Vogel, executive secretary for the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, which coordinates cooperation among countries across the basin.
