The Danube River, which runs through 10 countries from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea, has receded to never-before-seen lows along much of its course, exposing rocks, sand bars, and old shipwrecks that have rarely been seen before.

Impact on Tourism and Industry

In Budapest, Hungary’s capital, the national water authority measured the Danube’s water level at 23 centimeters (9 inches) on Wednesday morning, well below the previous all-time low of 33 centimeters (13 inches) set in 2018. The low water level has forced popular cruise ships to dock far upriver, while cargo ships have stopped operating nearly entirely.

In Bulgaria, police evacuated 186 tourists from a cruise ship that had run aground near the port city of Vidin. In Serbia, hundreds of small boats and dozens of cargo ships were marooned on the dried-out river bank near the northern city of Novi Sad.

Nuclear Plant Shutdowns

The receding waters are also affecting nuclear energy production in numerous countries where water from the Danube is typically used to cool reactors. In Romania, authorities shut down a reactor unit at the Cernavoda power plant on Tuesday for safety reasons and announced another would be shut down soon after.

Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant, which supplies nearly half of the country’s electricity, began powering down a reactor on Wednesday due to restricted cooling-water supplies. The drought has also exposed treasures and dangers, including a bomb dating from World War II that was exposed at the base of Budapest’s Margaret Bridge.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.