The great drought that struck the Danube basin in the summer of 2026 did not end in August.
By the end of the month, along the border between Romania and Bulgaria, the river’s flow had fallen to around 1,600 cubic metres per second, compared with a long term August average of around 3,900. In the first few days of September, several gauges along the Danube continued to record levels below the reference low water thresholds.
But the level of this great river is only the most visible part of the problem. As the water recedes, conditions also change in the wetlands, peat bogs, meadows and small watercourses that make up the ecological system of its catchment. Habitats designed or restored only a few years ago may no longer be able to fulfil the function for which they were intended.
• The drought of summer 2026 drove the Danube to exceptionally low levels, and its effects are still visible in September.
• In the Bavarian valley of the Große Laber, heat and water scarcity are already forcing a rethink of certain restoration projects, particularly those involving amphibians, wetlands and meadows.
• Restoring an ecosystem in a changing climate does not necessarily mean rebuilding what existed in the past. It means re engineering the relationships that enable it to continue to thrive, adapt and evolve.
When a habitat ceases to function
The Große Laber is a tributary of the Danube that flows through Lower Bavaria. Here, the Capellino Foundation and the Fondazione Capellino and the Deutscher Verband für Landschaftspflege are carrying out a project to restore and connect habitats along the river’s course. The work covers wetlands, species rich meadows, watercourses and peat bogs, while also creating new habitats for threatened species. The project currently covers a corridor which, as it expands, aims to reach the confluence with the Danube.
One of the clearest examples concerns the European tree frog. To encourage its reproduction, small fish free pools are being created or restored, where the water should remain for long enough to allow the amphibians to complete the early stages of their life cycle.
The drought of 2026 changed the initial conditions. During the spring, many of the monitored depressions dried up too soon. Those most exposed to the sun lost their water rapidly, whilst the presence of trees, shrubs and shade allowed other small pools to retain water for longer.
For this reason, some of the planned solutions are now being re evaluated. It is not enough simply to dig a new pond. It is necessary to choose where to build it, understand how long it will be able to retain water, and assess the role of the surrounding vegetation. The same applies to peatlands and wetlands, where interventions aim to conserve water more effectively and reduce water loss.
The pressure of the drought also remains evident in the latest updates from the field. At the end of August, DVL found far fewer marsh grasshoppers in the areas used as source populations, presumably because of the extreme drought in the spring and summer. To avoid further weakening the population, only 50 individuals were transferred.
During the same period, in Straubing Bogen, the condition of the meadows was so severely affected by the drought that technicians had to abandon one of the planned techniques for seed collection.
The project, therefore, is not simply carrying out a pre established plan. It observes how ecosystems respond and adjusts its interventions accordingly.
Restoration does not mean going back
We are used to imagining the restoration of nature as a return: rebuilding a forest, wetland or meadow by trying to restore it to the conditions that existed before it was degraded.
But what happens when, in the meantime, the climate changes?
If temperatures rise, rainfall patterns change and periods of drought become more frequent, simply reconstructing yesterday’s habitat exactly as it was may not be enough to ensure that it functions properly tomorrow.
In deeply transformed systems, restoration may even require new configurations capable of recovering ecological functions that have been lost under current conditions.
This is what is happening along the Große Laber. Shading a wetland, retaining water for longer, restoring a peat bog or creating a network of interconnected habitats are not separate interventions. Together, they help recreate the conditions that allow species to find refuge, reproduce, move and respond to change.
The stability of an ecosystem, therefore, is not the same as immobility.
A natural environment functions precisely because it changes. Populations rise and fall, species move, watercourses reshape the landscape, and droughts and floods bring about transformations. What matters is that the system retains enough ecological relationships and capacity to continue functioning, adapting and evolving.
The severe drought in the Danube makes this challenge particularly evident. Restoring nature in a changing climate does not mean preserving a snapshot of the past. It means restoring the conditions necessary for it to find a new equilibrium.