High temperatures and dry weather are taking their toll on Europe this summer. July has been the driest on record in France and the hottest in Spain since 1961. The consequences are as expected: reservoir and river levels have fallen to historic lows, the most serious drought in Europe in 500 years, according to some scientists. The scarcity of water is creating a critical situation affecting homes, factories, farmers and goods across the continent.
In France, a plan has already been activated to deal with a hydrographic crisis described as “the worst in the country” since there are records. More than 100 Gallic municipalities do not have drinking water and are being supplied. Spain is not far behind: its reserves are at a historical low of 40% and have been falling at a rate of 1.5% per week. In Italy there is no similar data for 230 years. Suffice it to say that the Po River, the longest in the country, has been reduced to a tenth.
But the crisis does not only affect the south. Water levels have also dropped dangerously in the Rhine to the northwest. Some boats are operating at 25% capacity so they don’t get stuck. In spite of everything, one of the most surprising things about the phenomenon is how, as the rivers dry up, hidden artifacts are being revealed for a long time under water, from Roman camps and WWII shipwrecks to the famous “hunger stones”.
Relics to the surface
They have been exposed up to 20 German warships sunk during World War II near the Serbian port city of Prahovo as a result of falling water levels in the Danube. They are among hundreds sunk along the river by Nazi Germany’s Black Sea fleet in 1944.
A 450 kilo World War II bomb has been discovered in Italy. To detonate it has required the evacuation of more than 3,000 people from their homes. The river has also exposed the remains of an ancient village in Piedmont, what was left of the Zibello, a 50-meter cargo barge, also sunk in World War II, and a Nazi military vehicle.
In Spain, archaeologists are jumping for joy at the unearthing of a prehistoric stone circle called “Spanish Stonehenge.” Actually it is about the Guadalperal Dolmenthis stone circle is completely exposed to the air in the Valdecañas reservoir, Cáceres, where the water level has dropped to 28% of its capacity.
The evaporation of the As Conchas reservoir has also exposed Aquis Querquennis, a roman fortress which dates from 69 and 79 AD and was abandoned around 120 AD And also in Galicia, the fall of the waters of the Belesar reservoir (currently at 39% of its capacity), has exposed the submerged town of the old Portomarín , where people have even been able to walk between their houses.
But the most prescient are the “hunger stones”, etched into the waterline of rivers during previous droughts such as warning to future generations that when the stones are on the water, bad times are coming. Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine (“If you see me, then cry”), reads the inscription on a rock in the Elbe River, near the town of Děčín, in the north of the Czech Republic. Another, near Bleckede in Germany, says: “When this sinks, life will be more colorful again.”
The kayak business in decline
The drought has also affected many businesses in lakes and rivers, such as kayaks. The terrible situation in Spain has meant that many companies dedicated to adventure leisure in many swamps of Catalonia have to lock. Also companies that organize canoe excursions or descents and that have been proliferating for years have found themselves in a disastrous time that will affect their pockets.
According to this article from eldiario.es, with the reserves at 31% in the reservoir of La Llosa del Cavall (Lleida), the company Kayak K1 was forced to raise its fleet of canoes. As the water level drops so low, it is unfeasible to start these boats. As the manager of this federation pointed out in that article, the drop in turnover in twenty companies is more than 50% compared to 2021.
The same has happened in the Sau reservoir, at 37.7% of its normal depth, the company Kayak Pla de Sau estimates that its clients have been reduced by more than half that of last year. Even the old church of Sant Romà has emerged from its waters to the point that it can be accessed on foot. Not much more needs to be said.