Po Valley drought alert high as towns face shortages

Italian authorities raised the drought alert in the Po Valley to “high” on Thursday as worsening conditions and unfavourable forecasts increased pressure on northern Italy’s water supplies.

The Po River Authority said more than 100 municipalities in Piedmont and Lombardy are already facing water supply difficulties, with some using tanker trucks to fill drinking water reservoirs. It said Lake Maggiore and Lake Como fell by 7 percent and 6 percent respectively in a week after water was released to irrigate fields in the dried-up valley.

A dry spring was followed by record heat in June and July that melted snow reserves. Twenty river basins in northern Italy have been granted permission to bypass minimum river flows to avoid a farmland drought like the one in 2022.

Farming union Confagricoltura warned that intense heat and severe water stress in the rice-growing area between Turin and Milan risk compromising the season’s production. Around Turin, an AFP photographer observed parts of the Po covered with aquatic plants and algae.

Po River Authority Secretary General Alessandro Delpiano said recent rain had not reversed the decline in lakes and rivers. “Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that summer storms can solve deep-rooted problems,” he said.

World Weather Attribution climatologists said the June heatwave that parched Europe would have been almost impossible without climate change.