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StockholmSweden Environment Germany's dry rivers spark battle on engineering vs restoration AFP - news@thelocal.com
Published: 13 Aug, 2026 CET. Updated: Thu 13 Aug 2026 08:53 CET Share Add a comment Water levels in the Rhine remain at
historically low levels. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Federico Gambarini As a heatwave dries Germany's rivers,
government ministers are at odds over what to do about it – re-engineer the waterways or restore them to their natural
state. The debate has flared as precariously falling water levels have revealed vast sandbanks on the Rhine, Danube,
Elbe and other rivers, severely impacting cargo shipping crucial for many industries. With climate change driving new
heat records and longer dry spells in Europe and beyond, scientists warn that the problem will intensify in coming
years. Germany's new transport minister, Steffen Bilger, convened a recent crisis summit with shipping, port and
logistics operators on the problem impacting the European Union's biggest economy. The key short-term counter measure he
announced was to temporarily lift a ban on truck transports on Sundays and public holidays to help ease cargo
bottlenecks. In the longer term, Germany needs to dredge deeper navigation channels and develop a new class of low-draft
ships, argued Bilger, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc. "We must make our waterways
more efficient while simultaneously making ships suitable for times of low water," Bilger said Wednesday after talks
with state transport ministers. "That is why we are pushing ahead with important expansion projects," he added, vowing
that environmental protection would be "kept firmly in mind". Speaking in Berlin on the same day, Environment Minister
Carsten Schneider of junior coalition partner the centre-left SPD offered a radically different vision, centred on
restoring rivers. After a campaign over hundreds of years saw rivers tamed for commercial use, he urged a shift back
"toward natural rivers featuring meandering branches and floodplains that retain water across the landscape". READ ALSO:
In pictures - Germany's rivers fall to historic lows Shift in thinking "In past centuries, Germany was a land rich in
water," he said. "Great effort went into straightening rivers to harness them for our use, but also into enabling
agriculture by draining the wetlands." Now, however, climate change has turned water into a scarce resource, requiring a
shift in thinking, Schneider argued. His views echoed those of environmental groups that oppose deepening shipping
channels. "They do more harm than good," said Beatrice Claus of the WWF. "Expansion and straightening cause water to
drain away into the North Sea and Baltic Sea even faster, rather than being retained in the surrounding area."
Advertisement Dredging is not a permanent solution, critics argue, because rivers constantly fill the channels with new
sediment. Environmentalists also say river bank fortifications destroy shallow-water zones where aquatic life and
insects breed – and the adjoining natural floodplains that act like sponges at times of excess water. "Dredging rivers
creates the illusion of taking action," said Olaf Bandt, head of environmental group BUND. For now, most German states
have lifted the Sunday trucking ban -- banking on a mode of transport with a far heavier carbon footprint than river
boats. Thomas Puls of the German Economic Institute said he did not expect the move to make much difference, telling
news weekly Der Spiegel that it takes at least 150 trucks to replace a single inland waterway vessel. READ ALSO: Parts
of Germany's Rhine becoming unnavigable as water levels drop Advertisement The head of the opposition Greens, Felix
Banaszak, meanwhile, accused the Merz government of doing too little about the root cause of the problem, the climate
crisis. "The rivers are drying up. Ships cannot operate. Yet the new transport minister comes up with nothing more than
deeper shipping channels and different types of vessels," Banaszak told the Rheinische Post daily. "It is characteristic
of this government that everything is being discussed except climate protection ... Instead of addressing the root
causes, the government applies Band-Aids to ever-widening wounds." Become a member or log in to continue reading More
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