And for some houseboat owners, the drought has left their water-borne homes resting on sandy river bed. "Because it is so dry right now the peat loses moisture, and because of that it becomes weaker," Van Duijvendijk said. Cargo traffic choked by low river levelsEurope's major rivers face a lack of water flow. Advertisement AdvertisementFrans Schilte has seen the summer periods of low water levels get longer in recent years. "Throughout the year, we have enough water in the Netherlands, there's no shortage," said Vince Kaandorp, a groundwater hydrologist at Deltares, an independent Dutch water research institute.