How Low is the Loire?

The Loire River is at record low levels for this time of year, and nearly at an all time record low, due to a summer long drought in much of Europe. But there are reports and photos doing the rounds which are claiming the river has dried up completely. This is not true. The dramatic photo which is being used to illustrate this claim was taken at the Ile Batailleuse, a large island in the river between Angers and Nantes, to the west of us and closer to the Atlantic. Crucially the photo only shows one channel of the Loire, with barely a trickle of water flowing through it. The other channel however, out of shot to the right, on the other side of the island, has water. The river at this point looks low, but it is quite normal for certain channels to dry up in the summer. The Loire is a naturally very shallow, gravelly river, with many sandbanks.

17 June, Amboise.

 

Nevertheless, the drought and the low level of the Loire is worrying. I've seen reports that at Langeais you can walk across it on foot, and as one heads west the secondary channels are drying up even more dramatically than usual. One especially worrying problem is the increase in the water temperature. This has implications for freshwater organisms and biodiversity, and also for the nuclear power stations which need to use the river water for cooling, then discharge it back into the Loire. At Avoine the water is first cycled through a series of greenhouses where particularly delicious and expensive tomatoes are grown all year round. And after the heatwave of 2003 the nuclear plant was adapted so that it functions with river water intake temperatures of up to 37C. I don't know what measures the Belleville plant (between Nevers and Orléans) and Saint Laurent des Eaux have taken to ensure they are not taking in or releasing water that is too hot.

30 July, Amboise.

The drying up of the river is due to two factors: lack of rain over winter, and the drought since the beginning of summer has only aggravated the situation. July was the driest month on record since 1959.
 

21 May, Cour sur Loire.

The water levels have been declared a crisis, as the flow has gone below 43 cubic metres per second and is expected to reach as low as 38 cubic metres per second in the autumn. Even in 2003 and 2019, two years with remarkably low levels of water, the flow never reached such a low measurement.

21 May, Cour sur Loire.

 

Water restrictions will be even more stringent, and more or less the only use allowed is the supply of drinking water for people and animals.