Meuccio Berselli, the secretary
general of the Po River District Authority, said Wednesday that
Italy's ongoing severe drought is the result of a "perfect
storm" of factors.
He said that, even though summer has only just started, "we are
without water resources (already).
"It is a perfect storm because in the last six-eight months the
level of winter snow reached a peak of 60-70% less (than the
usual level), which affected the storage of water needed to fill
the big lakes.
"Secondly, it hasn't rained in the Po valley basin for at least
120 days. Thirdly, temperatures are 3-4 degrees above the
average for the period".
The government looks set to grant requests from the regions
worst-affected by the drought for a state of emergency to be
declared in these areas.
The drought alert has spread from the Po valley, where waters
are three quarters down amid the worst drought in 70 years, to
central rivers like the Arno, the Aniene and the Tiber, which
have half the water they normally do at this time of the year,
officials said last week.
The Po drought threatens over 30% of the national farm output.
Farmers association Coldiretti said Wednesday that the damage
is currently estimated at over three billion euros.
Restrictions on the use of water have already been imposed in
some areas and many towns are having to have water brought in by
trucks.
The regions affected are assessing adopting water rationing
with, for example, bans of swimming pools being filled up.
More frequent and intense droughts are among the consequences of
human-caused climate change, scientists say.
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