Inn

Frequently asked questions

How many gauges does the Inn have?

The Inn water level is read at 19 gauges with daily readings: 10 in Austria and 9 in Germany. They cover 297 of the river's 517 km, between kilometre 1, at the Danube mouth, and kilometre 298, at Innsbruck.

What are the Inn's extremes?

On 3 June 2013, at the discharge at Passau Ingling, the water rose to 1,160 cm, the highest of the level series that starts in 1970, and to 6,820 cubic metres per second, the highest of the discharge series from 1921. Low water fell to 195 cubic metres per second, on 31 October 1947, and to 199, on 23 January 2017. The platform's own series on the Inn starts only in 2026, with a high of 503 cm at Passau Ingling, on 25 February.

Which official thresholds does the Inn have?

The Inn water level is read at gauges with Bavarian reporting levels: at the Wasserburg gauge 420, 500, 550 and 600 cm, and at Innsbruck 500 cm, with no higher steps. They are reporting levels, not flood warnings for the public.

How navigable is the Inn?

The Inn is not navigable: its 24 hydropower plants have no locks, and only passenger boats run on the river, between Schärding and Passau and at Wasserburg.

How is the Copernicus model series read on the Inn?

The Copernicus model series, GloFAS and EFAS, is computed discharge in cubic metres per second, not a gauge reading, so it is not compared with centimetres. It is read next to the measured discharge, which exists at 9 of the 19 gauges, and it has its own uncertainty and horizon. The model is not a flood warning.

Why is discharge read, not only the level, on the Inn?

Because the regime is alpine: June brings 1,260 cubic metres per second, January 411, and the summer mean, 956, is almost double the winter one, 513. A level in centimetres hides the difference in discharge between seasons.