Arid Rhine

People who live by a river are used to seeing more or less water flowing past them at different times. We live in a city by the Rhine, but not right next to the water, so at the weekend we popped over to the nearby Rheingau to take a closer look at the current drama of the lowest water levels in decades, although the situation has already eased somewhat over the last two weeks thanks to a bit of rain. It was still quite shocking. Sandbanks have emerged away from the shipping channel that I’ve never seen before, and you could reach the Bingen Mouse Tower very easily and without getting your feet wet from the other side of the Rhine, even though it’s usually on an island in the middle of the river. Certainly a lovely walk for tourists, but a dramatic situation for those who live in the river, the local residents and inland shipping. This year, a new low-water record of 32 centimetres (!) was recorded at the Bingen river gauge. A few weeks ago, the level was even 0 upstream near Cologne.…