Information on water levels and forecasts essential for Danube navigation:

The listed values are unverified raw data, which can contain inaccuracies or errors for various reasons (e.g. due to systemic disturbances). Furthermore, the continuous disclosure cannot be guaranteed. Due to service operation and maintenance as well as malfunctions in the remote transmission systems, it may happen at times that values are not available at short notice. Please note that the forecasts provided on this site for the gauges Kienstock and Wildungsmauer are only provided as a service for low water situations. Forecasts which are higher than the average water level (AWL) will not be published by viadonau. Forecast-information above AWL and information about flooding can be found on the websites of the Hydrographic Services of Lower and Upper Austria, whose forecasting systems have been developed specifically for such situations.

The "highest navigable water level" (HNWL) is a statistical value, which correlates with an outflow having an overrun period of 1%. According to §20.01 of the traffic regulations for inland waterways (WVO), a general driving ban applies to sport vehicles in the case of water levels higher than HNWL. For all other vehicles a continuation of one's journey can be prohibited by police, if

  • water levels are exceeding 90 cm over HNWL,
  • between lock Freudenau and the Slovakian border, if water level Wildungsmauer exceeds 600 cm and
  • flow conditions don't permit the safe approach to the lower lock gate.

On the Austrian-German border route, shipping and ferry traffic is prohibited outside the ports if the water level of the Danube exceeds 780 cm at the Passau-Danube gauge. Blockages of river stretches are published on this website.

The values displayed in the gauge-box for the past days always represent the value from 7:00 am on that respective day. The displayed value for the current day is always equal to the current value.

The water level forecasts have been developed under the scientific guidance of the Technical University of Vienna and are generated by automated computer-aided model calculations. Neither viadonau nor the data suppliers take any liability for the correctness and accuracy of the published data.

Thus, any claim of liability for the publication of water levels and the provision of forecasts by viadonau is by any means whatsoever excluded and void.

For further information please click here. Questions or feedback can only be sent per email to the following address: office[at]viadonau.org