By Denis Balibouse and Cecile Mantovani
LES BRENETS, Switzerland, July 30 (Reuters) – Lake Brenets, a long, winding lake on the Swiss-French border, is all but drained and has been unnavigable for more than a week amid a prolonged drought that has hit waterways across Europe.
The lake is normally thronged with campers, swimmers and canoeists in the summer, while three boat companies typically ferry thousands of tourists across it each season.
But this year it is virtually deserted as water levels in the River Doubs, which feeds it, have fallen sharply following months of scant rainfall and three successive heatwaves, the latest of which is still under way.
Dozens of boats are stranded high and dry on the cracked mud, including “Jumbo”, a tourist vessel operated by Yvan Durig, owner of the Societe de Navigation des Brenets.
“It’s hitting us hard because we’re powerless in the face of this phenomenon,” he told Reuters.
Already, he has had to lay off his team and is concerned about making a loss for the year, with water levels now more than 9 metres (30 feet) below average and falling by around 22 centimetres (9 inches) a day.
With rainfall about half of the usual levels since April, the MeteoSuisse weather agency says this year’s drought is comparable to some of the country’s worst in 1976, 2003 and 2018. Its long-term forecasts suggest below-normal rainfall will continue until mid-August.
While the lake has experienced droughts in the past that have hit business, Durig said that their frequency has increased.
“These droughts are occurring in rapid succession, something we’ve never seen before,” he said.
The lake’s remaining water is brown and reduced to a thin central ribbon, where fish are now confined and a couple of swans paddle. A nearby waterfall that flows out of the lake, the Saut de Doubs, has virtually dried up, residents say.
“It’s so beautiful when there’s water, when it’s flowing. It’s an idyllic, wonderful place,” said Martial Beyeler, a 69-year-old resident. “It makes me sad to see the place like this.”
(Reporting by Cecile Mantovani and Denis Balibouse; Writing and additional reporting by Emma Farge and Alex Richardson)
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