The River Sûre at Diekirch; Credit: AGE

On Wednesday 5 October 2022, Luxembourg's Ministry of Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, together with the Water Management Administration, confirmed an improvement in the water levels in rivers across the Grand Duchy.

 
After several weeks / months of extreme drought, Luxembourg's waterways are returning to less critical water levels. As an immediate effect, withdrawing surface waters with prior authorisation is again possible.

The year 2022, and in particular the summer months, were characterised by extreme drought. According to the official records of the meteorological services in Luxembourg, Meteolux, the precipitation has never been so low since 1947. This rainfall deficit has been noticed on waterways and on vegetation in general.

Although the rainfall in September was within the norm, the contribution for rivers in the Grand Duchy remained minimal as the water needs of the vegetation took the lead and soil storage capacities were still very high. Consequently, we had to wait until the end of September for the rivers to slowly return to a non-critical level. Only the upper Sûre and the Attert, characterised by historic low water levels, are still marked by rather low water levels.

For the next two weeks, weather conditions are expected to be variable with dry periods; however, vegetation is in transition to a rest phase (i.e. growth slows over the winter months). As a result, the Water Management Administration estimates that the levels of rivers in the Grand Duchy are no longer below the critical threshold.

The ban on withdrawing surface waters has been suspended with immediate effect (any such activity requires prior authorisation).