Europe is grappling with a drought so severe that governments are resorting to underwater explosions and emergency military deployments to protect critical energy infrastructure and trade routes.
Romania recently shut down its sole working nuclear reactor cooled by the Danube River for the first time, with Bucharest deploying naval forces to carry out controlled underwater detonations designed to improve water flow toward cooling systems.
Images showed the Romanian navy blasting rocks in Izvoarele village as part of a coordinated effort to divert greater volumes of water toward the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant’s cooling infrastructure.
Low water levels on the Danube have also threatened to close Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant, which supplies around 40% of the country’s electricity, and forced Serbia to cut hydropower generation significantly.
Germany’s Rhine River has fallen to its lowest levels in nearly 150 years, with the water level at Kaub dropping to just 24 centimeters on Monday and Tuesday, the lowest since records began in 1880.
That figure sits far below the critical navigation threshold of 78 centimeters at the Kaub gauge, forcing cargo barges to carry lighter loads and driving freight transport costs and low-water surcharges sharply higher.
“Major rivers like the Rhine and Danube are critical trade corridors and sources of water for industry and energy generation, so when water levels fall, the effects extend far beyond the waterways themselves,” said Liz Saccoccia, water security lead at the World Resources Institute.
“We’re already seeing that happen. Nuclear plants in Hungary, Romania and France, along with hydropower facilities in Serbia, have already had to reduce electricity generation because there isn’t enough water for cooling or driving turbines, increasing the risk of blackouts and costly electricity imports,” Saccoccia said.
“Along the Danube, low water levels have prevented farmers from shipping their crops and stopped cruise ships from reaching ports such as Budapest. These are early examples of how increasingly unreliable water supplies can ripple through the economy, affecting trade, energy security, supply chains and local businesses,” she added.
The crisis highlights a deepening structural problem across southern Europe, where around 30% of the population lives in areas with permanent water stress, where demand consistently exceeds available supply.
In economic terms, the effects of low water levels on the Rhine could dampen German gross domestic product by up to 0.2% in the third quarter, according to Stefan Kooths, professor of economics at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
“The loss in value added can be roughly estimated at 1 to 2 billion euros ($1.15 billion to $2.3 billion) in the third quarter,” Kooths told CNBC, adding that transport capacity was likely to remain affected for some time.
Felix Schmidt, senior economist at the private German bank Berenberg, said companies had likely prepared for the Rhine’s low water levels by stocking up on inventories or diverting goods via rail or road.
Schmidt acknowledged that freight rates were currently going “through the roof,” compounding inflationary concerns already weighing on European businesses and households.
“Given that Germany is growing very little, obviously, if we grow 0.1 instead of 0.2 then this means we lose half of the growth, if you want to frame it like that,” Schmidt told CNBC.
The German economy expanded by 0.2% in the second quarter compared to the previous three months, following an upwardly revised 0.4% quarter-on-quarter increase in the first quarter.
Schmidt described drying rivers as just one dimension of Germany’s broader economic struggle under the intensifying climate crisis, pointing to heat waves, damaged infrastructure, and energy disruptions as compounding pressures.
“You also have the catastrophic development like the fires sweeping now in southern Europe… So, it’s affecting the economy in many, many ways,” Schmidt said.