EditDanube’s record low waters expose climate pressures – and disinformation myths
Rumours circulating online have suggested that water is being consumed by artificial intelligence data centres, particularly in Germany, or diverted for other industrial uses
Hydrologists across Romania are grappling with two challenges at once: managing one of the lowest water levels ever recorded on the Danube while dispelling a growing wave of misinformation about what is causing the river’s dramatic decline.
Despite months of rainfall and a relatively cool summer in Romania compared with the past decade, the Danube has fallen to levels close to historic lows, disrupting navigation and raising concerns over energy security. The situation has also fuelled claims on social media that upstream data centres or water diversions are responsible for the crisis. Hydrologists say the explanation is far simpler: an exceptional drought stretching across much of Central Europe has sharply reduced the flow of the Danube’s largest tributaries.
At the beginning of August, the Danube entered Romania at Baziaș with a discharge of just 1,550 cubic metres per second, far below its long-term August average. By the time it reached Călărași, after receiving water from Romanian and Bulgarian tributaries, the flow had increased to only 1,750 cubic metres per second.
The figures illustrate why rainfall inside Romania has had only a limited effect on the river.
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Romanian rivers contribute only a fraction of the Danube’s flow
A common question raised by the public is why heavy rainfall in southern Romania has not replenished the Danube.
The answer lies in the relatively modest contribution of Romania’s own rivers.
The Jiu, Olt and Argeș rivers, which join the Danube before it reaches Călărași, contribute only around 10% of the river’s discharge. Even after including tributaries flowing from Bulgaria, the combined contribution reaches little more than 15% during August.
At current levels, Romanian and Bulgarian rivers increase the Danube’s flow by only about 11.4% between Baziaș and Călărași.
Most of the river’s water originates much farther upstream.
Hydrologists point to the Inn, Sava, Drava and Tisza rivers, which together normally provide more than half of the water entering Romania at Baziaș. Additional tributaries in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia account for much of the remainder.
Several of these rivers are now experiencing severe drought.
The Drava, whose normal contribution is roughly equivalent to that of all Romanian tributaries upstream of Călărași combined, has fallen so dramatically that parts of its riverbed can reportedly be crossed on foot. Other major tributaries in Hungary and Serbia are facing similar conditions.
As a result, even exceptionally high flows from Romanian rivers would be insufficient to compensate for the losses further upstream.
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Basin-wide drought behind the crisis
Hydrologists reject claims that the Danube’s missing water has been diverted elsewhere.
Rumours circulating online have suggested that water is being consumed by artificial intelligence data centres, particularly in Germany, or diverted for other industrial uses.
Experts say there is no evidence supporting these claims.
The only significant diversion of water reported in Hungary during July was intended to protect a biosphere reserve and had no meaningful effect on the Danube’s overall discharge.
Instead, the river’s decline reflects an extensive drought affecting much of the Danube basin, from southern Germany through Austria and into Hungary, Slovenia, western Romania and northern Bulgaria.
The drought follows a winter that brought significantly less snowfall than usual to both the Alps and the Carpathians, reducing the meltwater that normally sustains river flows during summer.
Hydrologists say the current conditions are closely linked to long-term climate change, which has reduced the discharge of many of Europe’s largest rivers, including not only the Danube but also the Rhine.
Pressure on Cernavodă
The exceptionally low river levels are creating additional concerns for Romania’s energy system.
Attention has focused on the Cernavodă nuclear power plant, which draws cooling water from a branch of the Danube downstream of Călărași.
Officials are considering an emergency measure that would divert part of the flow from the Bala branch in order to increase water reaching the branch supplying the nuclear facility.
The issue is not entirely new. According to hydrologists, the vulnerability of Cernavodă to prolonged drought has been known for more than 15 years, yet no lasting solution has been implemented.
By contrast, Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant has already faced operational disruptions because of insufficient river water.
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Data centres not responsible
One of the most persistent claims circulating on Romanian social media is that artificial intelligence data centres are consuming the water that would otherwise reach the Danube.
Available data suggest otherwise.
According to UN figures cited by hydrologists, the total installed capacity of data centres in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia amounts to about 5.8 GW, with approximately 5.5 GW located in Germany.
Using typical industry estimates, a 100 MW data centre consumes around two million litres of water per day, much of which is lost through evaporation, while part is returned to rivers as industrial water.
Even if all data centres in those countries operated simultaneously at full capacity, their combined water consumption would amount to roughly 110 million litres per day.
Converted into river discharge, that equals approximately 1.3 cubic metres per second.
By comparison, the Danube’s long-term average flow for August is around 4,095 cubic metres per second.
Hydrologists therefore conclude that, while data centres may create local water-management challenges, their impact on the Danube is negligible.
They argue that irrigation, urban water use and inadequate long-term planning have a much greater influence on water resources than digital infrastructure.
For scientists, the current crisis offers another illustration of how climate change is reshaping Europe’s water systems.
As periods of prolonged drought become more frequent, they warn that water will become an increasingly scarce resource, requiring better management across the entire Danube basin rather than explanations rooted in misinformation.
The article in Romanian by EUalive’s Romanian partner PressOne can be found here.
Caption: The wreckage of a ship that was sunk in WWII is partially uncovered by the low water level of the Danube at Vamosszabadi, northwestern Hungary, 28 July 2026. EPA/Csaba Krizsan
Updated: August 3, 2026 - 05:02
