Gauge Köln: current water level and draft

Water level at the Köln gauge

On 25/10/2026 at 05:15 the Köln gauge read 82 cm, 12 cm higher than 24 hours earlier. Source: PEGELONLINE (WSV).

Gauge Köln is on the Rhine at kilometre 688, on the km 660–710 stretch.

Fairway depth and rule of thumb

The GlW is 139 cm and the fairway depth maintained below it (TuGlW) is 250 cm; after deducting 30 cm of safety margin the official rule of thumb comes out at Köln +81. In practice Köln +80 is used here, -1 cm against the official rule.

The fairway depth below GlW is what counts as long as no Fehltiefen are reported. Fehltiefen (shortfalls in fairway depth) are published on ELWIS Fehltiefen. The safety margin is not a statutory value and has to be taken on top of the reduced fairway depth listed there.

High water: Marke I and Marke II

At high water Marke I is at 620 cm and Marke II, above which the waterway closes, at 830 cm.

Forecasts and neighbouring gauges

This gauge has 4 forecast sources: the 4-day forecast from Elwis (green), the 2-day forecast from the Hochwasserzentrale Rheinland-Pfalz (red), the 14-day forecast from the BAfG (yellow) and the 6-week forecast from the BAfG (blue, set the time range to 6 weeks to see it). Upstream lies Bonn, downstream Düsseldorf.

Reference planes

The reference planes at the Köln gauge, evaluated at the gauge's position.

• GlW139 cm PNP
  GlW 2022
  Source: WSV, GlW 2022

Gauge zero: 35.038 m NHN (DHHN2016)

Cologne