Lakes more than half meter lower than normal in unusually dry summer
Drought threatens inland commercial shipping
With an unusually dry summer in most of Finland, the water level in Finnish lakes has plummeted to up to 60 centimetres lower than normal. Wells have dried, river beds are running low, piers are on dry land, and rowboats are more difficult than usual to get on shore.
Boaters have been warned of reefs that are closer to the surface than before. Rivers are also running low on water.
Kallavesi in North Savo is 34 cm. below the average level for this time of the year. The level is lower than at any time since 1973 when regulation of the river first began.
Experts expect the surface level to fall below the minimum level for safe commercial navigation next week. If this happens, cargo ships using the deep channel of Kallavesi will have to lighten their loads.
One expert from the North Savo Environment Centre points out that falling below the level is not unusual - it happens at least once every three years.
In Ristiina, the surface of the Saimaa waterway is a record 58 cm. below normal. The receding shoreline is testimony to the situation.
Hydrologist Johanna Korhonen of the Finnish Environment Institute says that the greatest drops in the surface level have been 40 cm. a month. "Only the rains of the autumn will raise the water levels again.
Ground water has fallen to between 30 and 50 cm. below normal. The decline is expected to continue throughout August even if it were to rain.
"The ground is so dry that it would take the normal rainfall of August just to dampen the surface of the soil. Only after that will it accumulate in the lower strata", Korhonen says. Furthermore, weather forecasts give little hope for precipitation in the first two weeks of August.
The power industry is also concerned that the decreased amount of water in Finnish inland waterways will lead to lower hydroelectric generating capacity than normal next winter.
Helsingin Sanomat
|
| 2.8.2006 - TODAY |
 Lakes more than half meter lower than normal in unusually dry summer |
|
