Lake Garda at lowest level in 70 years

Lake Garda in northern Italy has reached its lowest level since 1953, satellite data released on Monday has shown.

The lake, the largest in Italy and which borders with the regions of Lombardy and Veneto and the autonomous province of Trento, has fallen to 45.8 centimeters above hydrometric zero, the elevation above mean sea level established as a conventional reference for this basin.

This compares to an average of 109 centimeters over the past 70 years.

The data comes from the Sentinel-2 satellite in the framework of the European Drought Observatory as part of the Copernicus programme, run by the European Commission and the European Space Agency.

The drop in water level in the 370 square kilometre lake is a direct consequence of the severe drought that has been gripping many parts of Italy since last summer and threatens agriculture, tourism, navigation and the local communities in the area.

Photo: A photo taken with a drone shows an aerial view of the port and promenade of Bardolino, on the eastern coast of Lake Garda, near Verona, northern Italy. EPA-EFE/FILIPPO VENEZIA

Via ANSA