Record low river level in Poland hits tourism, environment

WARSAW (Reuters) - For Andrzej Stanski, who runs a company that organises cruises on Poland's Vistula river, record low water levels mean he has had to alter the routes his boats take.

"We're sailing off the route, because here and there you can simply hit a stone," he told Reuters. "The engines cost quite a lot and it's about the safety of both the passengers and ourselves".

After a scorching summer across much of eastern Europe, the water in Poland's longest river is at a fraction of its normal levels.

In Warsaw the water level was 20 centimetres on Wednesday, data from Poland's Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) showed, below a previous record low of 26 cm seen in 2015 and against more usual depths of 105-250 cm.

A hydrologist from Warsaw University, Jaroslaw Suchozebrski, said Poland was in a state of hydrological drought.

"We have less and less water at our disposal, which means that water recipients have to approach it a little more rationally... mainly the energy industry. Our energy production is based on cooling processes using water," he told Reuters.

"The second thing is the quality of this water, because the less water flows in the river, the lower the degree of dilution of pollutants."

Private Radio RMF reported on Wednesday that dozens of dead fish have been found in southern reaches of the Vistula.

Water levels may rise in coming days as IMGW forecasts heavy rainfall but this may bring new risks.

"... we may have a very quick reaction of the river and even go from a hydrological drought to a flood," Suchozebrski said.

Other countries in central and eastern Europe including Hungary are also experiencing sharp decreases in river water levels, often with serious consequences for agriculture.

(Reporting by Aleksandra Szmigiel, writing by Alan Charlish and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Gareth Jones)