Rivers, lakes dry up amid drought conditions

Drought conditions in parts of North America, Europe and Asia have left lakes, reservoirs and rivers much lower than usual.

The dry conditions are causing problems for people who depend on the water for animal grazing and the shipment of goods.

Some regions are being forced to ship water to those in need while others are resorting to cloud seeding in a bid to promote rainfall.

Heat, drought impact bodies of water

A closed boat ramp is seen ending short of the water's edge at Elephant Butte Reservoir near Truth of Consequence, N.M.

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Daniel Martel fills a container with water on Tuesday that will supply villages around Fayence, France, as a historic drought hits the country.

(Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

People walk near the Loire River in Loireauxence, France, on Tuesday.

(Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

A boat sits on the exposed bed of the Rhine River in Spijk, the Netherlands, on Aug. 13. Low water levels have significantly hindered inland shipping on the Rhine, which is the main route for transporting goods from Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp to western Germany and Switzerland.

(Koen van Weel/ANP/AFP/Getty Images)

People walk across the old Asel bridge on Lake Eder in Vohl, Germany. The bridge, normally underwater, is exposed due to low water levels after a prolonged drought.

(Boris Roessler/dpa/The Associated Press)

Sheep drink from a pool while standing on the bed of the Guadiana River in the central-western Spanish region of Extremadura, on Tuesday. Temperatures in Spain have been very high this summer with several unusual heat waves. Scientists say human-induced climate change is making extreme weather events, including heat waves and droughts, more frequent and more intense.

(Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images)

This aerial photo view taken Tuesday shows the peninsula of Sirmione on Lake Garda, in northern Italy, where the lake's waters are receding due to severe drought.

(Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)

A boat lies stuck in the dried-up bank of a canal at the Umm El Wadaa marsh, near the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, on Tuesday. Years of drought and low rainfall, as well as reduced river flows from neighbouring Turkey and Iran, have turned Iraq's marshland areas into cracked ground. Local residents, whose livelihoods depend on the resources of the southern marshlands, are struggling to make ends meet, with many forced to leave in search of different jobs.

(Asaad Niazi/AFP/Getty Images)

The riverbed of the Yangtze River was exposed in Chongqing, China, on Wednesday.

(Reuters)

Chinese militia members load cloud-seeding equipment on Wednesday. Cloud seeding is part of drought-relief measures during a heat-wave warning near Shaoyang, in China's Hunan province.

(China Daily/Reuters)