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In Bosnia, drinking water restrictions have been introduced at night in Sarajevo and other cities.

"The Bosna river is so low, you can walk from one bank to another," said Emir Emric, a fisherman. "People catch fish with bare hands — and not only any fish — but 20-kilogram (44-pound) catfish."

Electricity supplies are also running low in Bosnia and Serbia because hydropower plants cannot produce enough power due to the low river water levels. If there is no rain in the next couple of days, hydroelectric plants will be shut down, said Bosnian Serb Energy Minister Zeljko Kovacevic.

Environmentalists are also worried. A World Wildlife Fund report noted a sharp drop in bird populations along the lower stretch of the Danube because of the persistent drought.

The current level of the river along the Bulgarian bank is at its lowest since 1941, and shipping on large stretches of the river has ground to a halt, according to the Bulgarian Executive Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River.

The Bulgarian section between the ports of Somovit and Silistra has a total of 14 spots where the Danube level is below the river navigation minimum of 250 centimeters (98 inches), and 6 spots were the waters are as shallow as 160 centimeters (63 inches).

In Romania, officials say that though the country had a bumper wheat harvest this year, the drought looks set to severely damage next year's production.

"If the drought continues, the wheat crop will be down by at least 20 percent," said Marcel Cucu, the spokesman for the Romanian League of Agriculture Producers Associations.

Unusual Drought Triggers Alarm Across Balkans (NPR, 16 Dec 2011)




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