The summer season is just beginning and there is already some fear among kayak rental companies, given the fairly low flow of certain rivers. In La Roche-en-Ardenne, one of them has just completely stopped navigation on the Ourthe, and sends its customers back to the waterways.
The drought of the past few weeks is already impacting some key summer activities. In La Roche en Ardenne, the kayak rental company Ardenne Aventures decided on Tuesday to no longer allow kayak descents on the Ourthe between Nisramont and Laroche. The flow of the river is already too low. The conditions are no longer correct.
This poses several problems. The boats are damaged by friction on the stones, some even remain stuck in submerged places. The comfort and pleasure of tourists are therefore no longer sufficient. And then the bed of the river is also damaged.
To limit damage, the boss of one of the rental companies, Manu Goldschmit, is now transferring customers and tourists about ten kilometers away, to the Nisramont dam lake. “It rubbed a lot, people were going to be unhappy… A complicated decision and at the same time easy to make”, sums up this boss. The feeling is certainly not the same as when descending a river, less turbulence and adrenaline, but there is much more relaxation and disconnection in a magnificent green setting.
A situation that has the unfortunate tendency to repeat itself in recent years. 8 of the last 11 summers according to the rental company. So much so that the boss of Ardennes Aventures decided to diversify his activity a few years ago: stand-up paddle, pedal boat and kayak on the lake at the foot of the Château de Laroche, brewery, but also tree climbing and various attractions. This is enough to limit the impact of such a situation and guarantee sufficient income for the lessor. An impact that he struggles to quantify, but diversifying allows him to be much less dependent on kayaking alone and its constraints.
If 15 years ago, summer was the time to make the activity profitable, now rental companies are counting on a good spring, and see the summer season as a bonus, provided of course that the flow of the river is sufficient, and conversely, that the weather is not catastrophic either, with 2 months of rain.