Italy is once again on alert for a possible drought emergency this winter. In recent weeks, scientists and environmental groups have exposed that less than half of the usual snowfall was recorded in the Alps region while unusually low tides have occurred in Venice. Unlike flooding, which is often the main concern in the city, this phenomenon has hampered mobility there, making it impossible for gondolas, water taxis, and even ambulances to navigate the famous canals.
This situation derives from a series of events such as the lack of rain, the presence of a high pressure system, sea currents and even a full moon.
A spokesman for the environmental group Legambiente told The Guardian, the rivers – mainly in northern Italy – suffer from a serious lack of water. For example, the Po, the longest in the country that goes from the Alps -in the northwest- to the Adriatic, registers 61% less water than it usually has at this time of year, they specified in a statement from the agency.
This fact, however, is not very surprising in the country of the boot since last July Italy suffered its worst drought in 70 years, for which the authorities even declared a state of emergency in the areas surrounding the Po. Almost a third of the country’s agricultural production occurs there.
“We are in a situation of water deficit that has been accumulating since the winter of 2020-2021,” the climate expert Massimiliano Pasqui, from the Italian scientific research institute CNR, warned in a dialogue with Corriere della Sera.
“We need to recover 500mm in the northwestern regions: we need 50 rainy days,” he continued.
For its part, in Lake Garda, also in the north of the country, water levels reached historic lows, so those who go to the small island of San Biagio can do so through a path that has been exposed in the lake.
In any case, the latest weather forecasts show that the long-awaited rainfall and snowfall will be arriving in the coming days.
