Mannenbach TG harbor dries out Lake Constance level drops to extremely low level
No rain and far too little meltwater: the water level on Lake Constance is very low, the harbor of Mannenbach TG on Untersee has even dried out.
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- The water level on Lake Constance is extremely low due to the persistent drought.
- The port of Mannenbach on Untersee, around twelve kilometers west of Constance, has dried up.
- The main reason for the low water level is low rainfall and little meltwater from the Alps.
The water level of Untersee, the western part of Lake Constance, has fallen to an extreme level due to persistent drought. The last time the water level was as low as it is now was at the beginning of April 1972. And it is likely to fall further.
The water level on Untersee is now only 15 centimetres above the lowest level ever measured at this time of year, wrote the canton of Thurgau in response to an inquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency. The harbor of Mannenbach TG, for example, has dried up, as a picture in the online edition of the "Thurgauer Zeitung" shows.
Due to the lack of precipitation and small amounts of meltwater, the authorities expect the water levels on Lake Constance to fall even further. "The snow depths in the catchment area are below average, which indicates that the snowmelt this year will be lower than in other years," explained a spokesperson for the canton.
The water level in the upper part of Lake Constance is 40 centimetres below the usual level. The last time it was as low as it is now was at the beginning of April 1996. Apart from Lake Walen, Lake Constance is the only one of the large Swiss lakes that is not regulated.
Access road to the smallest island on Lake Constance
Due to the low water level, the smallest island on Lake Constance, the island of Hoy near Lindau (Germany), is currently accessible on foot. The artificial bathing island, created around a hundred years ago by a former villa owner, is a hundred meters from the shore and can normally only be reached by boat.
Today, the island is owned by the Free State of Bavaria. The low water level of the lake currently makes it possible to build a temporary road to the island, a spokeswoman for the town of Lindau told the news agency dpa. This would allow the wall around the 53 square meter island to be repaired. This has been crumbling for some time, which is why the small island is in danger of falling apart.