Low water strands boats and disrupts Lake Constance tourism

The Untersee, the lower part of Lake Constance, has reached a historically low water level, disrupting boat owners, professional shipping and tourism, SRF reported.

Persistent dry weather has left many boats sitting in sand or moored farther out in the lake. Owners are using air mattresses, small dinghies and other flotation devices to reach their sailing yachts and motorboats.

Many boat owners removed their vessels from the water early. Those that remain are mostly owned by local residents, and some have been moved farther into the lake. Reaching them can require a walk through mud before owners can continue by air mattress or dinghy. In Berlingen, a small channel was dug to provide easier access to the water.

Boat owners Werner Braun and Fritz Hugi said they were still willing to make the effort to use their vessels. Braun said the drought was alarming and showed that climate change was more severe than many people realised. Hugi, who has lived by the lake all his life, said he had never experienced a summer like this one.

The low water level is also affecting the Untersee and Rhine Shipping Company, known as URh. It has operated a low-water timetable for weeks, and the route between Stein am Rhein and Diessenhofen is currently closed to vessels. Instead, the company is offering round trips.

Some landing stages can no longer be used by people with walking aids, rollators or wheelchairs because the boarding angle is too steep. URh managing director Remo Rey said the stages would need to be lowered so passengers could board even when water levels were low.

In the long term, URh is also looking for vessels with a shallower draught. Rey said each ship would cost between 18 million and 20 million Swiss francs.

Thurgau Tourism said it was too early to assess the full impact of the hot summer. Managing director Adrian Braunwalder said the sector would need to learn from the experience, including by adapting cooling systems in hotels and restaurants and improving bathing facilities. Additional swimming pools that can be used independently of the lake level could be one option, he said.

At the bathing kiosk in Ermatingen, however, the low water level has already reduced business. Assistant Markus Vollenweider said the kiosk would normally be busy in midsummer, but many visitors, including tourists, were staying away. The water is too far from the shore for most people to swim, while an algae mat has begun to smell.

As one regular guest put it: “Now we have a beautiful summer, but no water. Usually we have plenty of water, but not a beautiful summer.”