Water Shortage Declared by Dutch Government Due to Ongoing Drought

Amsterdam — Dutch Government declared a water shortage on Wednesday after an unusually dry summer and no rain forecast for the next two weeks.

A brutal heat wave hit much of Europe and the United States last month, calling for greater efforts to tackle global warming.

Two-thirds of the Dutch population With people living below sea level, drought can quickly become a serious problem in the Netherlands, sinking rivers and disrupting water transport.

If the embankment dries out, a further problem arises. Often the weight of the water itself must be strongly maintained.

“The last few weeks have been drier in the Netherlands due to high evaporation in our country and very low flow of rivers from abroad,” said Michele of the country’s public works and water management agency. Blom said. He was appointed to oversee the drought task force.

Barges on the Lower Rhine, an important route for transporting coal from Rotterdam to German steelmakers and power companies inland, are now operating at less than half capacity.

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport said 850 cubic meters of water per second flowed through the eastern town of Lobis, where the Rhine River enters the Netherlands, as of Tuesday. Year. “

Levels were higher on the Meuse River, also called the Meuse, which flows from France into the Netherlands.

The northern part of the country cut out of the North Sea in the 20th century. The IJsselmeer, a large artificial freshwater lake in the It is very low in some places,” the ministry said, leading to algal blooms and fish deaths.

Drinking water is not affected.

Water districts are urging people to conserve water, and in the southern states of Zeeland and Limburg they are urging people not to use surface water for watering, a measure that affects farmers. be. (Reporting by Toby Sterling and Stephanie van den Berg, Editing by Tomasz Janowski)