Lake Constance water levels fall to record June low

In the western part of Lake Constance, bordering Switzerland, Germany and Austria, water levels have fallen to their lowest on record for June.

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The drop is being blamed on a prolonged lack of rainfall across the lake’s entire catchment area, combined with below-average snowfall in the mountains.

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Boats have been left stranded on the shores of the Untersee – the lower lake. There has been very little rainfall for months, with April in particular being unusually dry, says Heinz Ehmann, head of Thurgau’s Water Quality and Utilisation Department. As a result, not enough snow built up in the mountains to give the lake levels a meaningful boost as it melted.

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Lake Constance is particularly sensitive to prolonged dry spells. Along with Lake Walen, it is the only large Swiss lake not subject to regulation, meaning its water levels are left to fluctuate naturally. As a result, both high and low levels tend to be more pronounced. At present, the lake is running around one metre below the long-term average for June.

The low water level is also affecting the shipping company Untersee und Rhein (URh). Because the Rhine is running low downstream of the lake, the stretch between Stein am Rhein and Diessenhofen is currently not navigable.

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Translated from German by AI/sp