According to Reuters, devastating heatwaves covered parts of Europe and the US last month.
According to the Dutch government, drought could quickly become an urgent problem in the country, causing river flooding and obstacles to shipping. In addition, the irrigation dike systems used to control water flow for agriculture, irrigation and domestic use may cease to function due to the lack of water.
“Water shortage has a negative effect on shipping and agricultural production in the Netherlands. We call our homeland the land of water, but here water is also very precious to us.” That says Minister of Infrastructure and Irrigation Management Mark Harbers.
Mr Mark Harbers urged people to “Think twice before washing your car or changing the water in your pool.”
Currently, barges on the Lower Rhine, an important route for transporting coal from Rotterdam to German electricity and steel producers, are running at less than half their capacity.
The government said that the drinking water supply is not at risk and that new measures are not yet necessary, but that the measures could also be rolled out domestically in the coming weeks.
Amid rising temperatures last month, authorities in Amsterdam were forced to actively spray water on bridges to keep them from expanding.
The Netherlands is the last country to feel the effects of the drought. Last month, the European Union warned that the continent is facing one of its most difficult years with natural disasters such as drought and forest fires due to climate change.
This is the fifth time in the century that the Netherlands has officially declared a water shortage. The worst time was in 2003 when the drought in this country almost reached level 3. The Netherlands is currently at level 2.
Source: CafeF
