Europe on alert as severe drought hits food, energy production

European countries historically rich in water are hastily rolling out emergency measures to cope with a cumulative drought that has sapped waterways, threatened food security and strained energy production – with little end in sight.

A water sprinkler in a corn field in north-eastern Germany. AFP - PATRICK PLEUL

Swathes of the continent have been hit – from Ireland to Turkey – with satellite data showing particularly dramatic images in western Europe, where governments have swung into action to mitigate water shortages ahead of the summer.

Instructing regional authorities to implement urgent water restrictions, French President Emmanuel Macron last week warned of “the end of water abundance”, while Italy took the unprecedented step of appointing a commissioner with executive powers to carry out a drought battle plan.

The government of Catalonia ramped up water-saving rules for nearly 6 million people – including the residents of Barcelona – amid a crippling drought that’s lasted more than two years. Public parks no longer get watered, and the region's water supplies have dropped to 27 percent.

Add to that images of snowless slopes in the Alps, which have seen less than half their normal snowfall this season; dried-up canals in Venice, a lagoon city usually prone to flooding; critically low water levels affecting barge traffic in the Rhine, Europe’s biggest commercial waterway; and vegetation stress in Ireland, whose most important crop is grass.

Worst drought in 500 years

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre earlier warned the drought was shaping up to be Europe’s worst in 500 years – with the potential to affect almost half of the continent.

A study by Austria’s Graz University of Technology in January found that groundwater levels had been left precariously low by a severe European drought that began in 2018.

This is supported by data from the EU’s Copernicus satellite programme, which published a map revealing low soil moisture in multiple countries.

• France headed for water curbs as dry winter intensifies drought

The lack of rainfall coupled with record temperatures are a double whammy that have forced farmers to seek water from greater depths, which in turn has contributed to what researchers estimate is the loss of some 84 gigatonnes of water per year since the start of the century.

After France marked a record 32 days without rain in February – cementing a dry winter that followed an already difficult 2022 – Environment Minister Christophe Béchu warned the nation was in a “state of alert” for potential further drought in the months ahead.

“It’s undeniable that this is serious,” European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, said in a Twitter post – while experts at the European Drought Observatory fear water levels may not be able to recover in time for the summer.

Drought indicator for France:

February 2021 ➡️ 2022 ➡️ 2023

32 days straight without rain, the longest streak since 1959.

It’s undeniable that this is serious.

Actions like our 🇪🇺 Soil Health & Nature Restoration Law are the solutions we must deploy.https://t.co/5bgCVMOFxu pic.twitter.com/2JKcLerYde

— Virginijus Sinkevičius (@VSinkevicius) March 1, 2023

Threat to energy security

The persisting drought spells bad news for Europe’s energy production, with France becoming a net importer of energy in 2022 for the first time in four decades.

Water scarcity has affected the output of the country’s nuclear power plants, already hit by maintenance issues, which are typically built near rivers because their cooling circuits rely on large quantities of water.

The lack of rain and snowfall has also driven hydroelectricity supplies into deficit, energy policy expert Jean-Marc Jancovici told French radio RTL.

• Record heat and low rainfall made 2022 France's hottest, driest year yet

“There has been less electricity from renewable sources in France because the dams have produced less,” Jancovici said, adding that lack of snow melt would result in more depleted rivers in the spring and summer.

“This poses a problem for all facilities that need to take water from rivers.”

Meanwhile a study in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, this week found that extreme weather caused by climate change risked costing the country up to 900 billion euros between now and 2050.