<p>Actually, it's about access to the water table. If the water table is under the river, it can be accessed by dredging. Either way, it's just a last resort for totally anomalous weather.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-18T07:51:42.217Z
2022-09-18T07:51:42.217Z
bandybabboon
<p>How does dredging help the rivers that have gone dry? If you dig deeper, that small, and fixed, amount of water is just going to go lower, isn't it? That just what my layman's logic says, at least. And if it doesn't address the problem, which is not enough water, then why do they do it (or at least, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/rhines-low-water-levels-hit-german-shipping-minister-touts-dredging/a-62740312" rel="nofollow noreferrer">plan</a> to, for example, in Germany)?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-15T01:05:39.780Z
Do you a reference for that? Until your question, I wasn't aware it was happening. Just inferring from your question, it might be easier to dredge the rivers now, with little or no water so that when the water eventually returns they will have a deeper & more navigable  river. Or they may want to clear choke points in the river.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-15T07:57:42.347Z
Not an expert, so it's just an idea: maybe if the water is spread over a wider but shallower channel, it has more area exposed, thus more evaporation? While a deeper/narrower channel would have less evaporation due to lower area exposed?
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-15T09:23:21.707Z
The linked news story suggests that dredging is proposed to increase navigability of the rivers and not to address the low flow.
Andy M
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-15T09:43:04.597Z
the groundwater level is often close to the water level in rivers so by dredging one can avoid the river running dry by using the inflow from ground water to keep the river flowing,it is far from an ideal solution as a dropping groundwater level will have a negative effect on the surounding area.
trond hansen
<climate-change><hydrology><rivers>
How does dredging help the rivers that have gone dry?
Sergey Zolotarev
# How does dredging help the rivers that have gone dry?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-09-14)

How does dredging help the rivers that have gone dry? If you dig deeper, that small, and fixed, amount of water is just going to go lower, isn't it? That just what my layman's logic says, at least. And if it doesn't address the problem, which is not enough water, then why do they do it (or at least, [plan](https://www.dw.com/en/rhines-low-water-levels-hit-german-shipping-minister-touts-dredging/a-62740312) to, for example, in Germany)?

**Tags:** climate-change, hydrology, rivers

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do you a reference for that? Until your question, I wasn't aware it was happening. Just inferring from your question, it might be easier to dredge the rivers now, with little or no water so that when the water eventually returns they will have a deeper & more navigable  river. Or they may want to clear choke points in the river.  
> **username_2**: Not an expert, so it's just an idea: maybe if the water is spread over a wider but shallower channel, it has more area exposed, thus more evaporation? While a deeper/narrower channel would have less evaporation due to lower area exposed?  
> **username_3**: The linked news story suggests that dredging is proposed to increase navigability of the rivers and not to address the low flow.  
> **username_4**: the groundwater level is often close to the water level in rivers so by dredging one can avoid the river running dry by using the inflow from ground water to keep the river flowing,it is far from an ideal solution as a dropping groundwater level will have a negative effect on the surounding area.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2022-09-18. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Actually, it's about access to the water table. If the water table is under the river, it can be accessed by dredging. Either way, it's just a last resort for totally anomalous weather.


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