NIJMEGEN - 21 July 2021. The ban on pleasure boats in the rivers of Gelderland has been lifted. Swimming in the Spiegelwaal in Nijmegen, for example, is also permitted, but strongly discouraged and the secondary channel is also still inaccessible.

Rijkswaterstaat warns of the possible presence of the ecoli bacterium, which can cause serious intestinal infections. The water in the Rhine and Waal may be extra polluted because some sewer overflows in Germany discharged into the Rhine as a result of the high water.

Water has accumulated in the Meuse River that has flowed through inhabited areas and collected all kinds of waste there. So that water is also much dirtier than normal.

Water still flows hard

The Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management has never been in favour of swimming along the rivers, but it is now even more emphatic. After all, the water is still fairly high and flows hard'.

Apart from the strong currents that can be present, the depth along the shore is more difficult to estimate and there can be all sorts of things below the water line that swimmers can get stuck in or hurt. Our advice is: look for an official swimming water''.

Swimmers rescued

Last weekend, swimmers who got into trouble due to the strong current had to be rescued in several places. The ban on sailing was also ignored en masse, reason enough to make an appeal through all kinds of channels for the public to cooperate a little and not give the emergency services any unnecessary work.

Water levels fell everywhere in this region in mid-July. The Rhine at Lobith always drops later than the highest level reached at Nijmegen. In the Meuse, the fall in water is faster, up to one metre a day.