The current drought affecting Italy’s longest river, the Po, is the worst in 70 years.
The river Observatory told an extraordinary meeting that the demand for water in the Po Valley basin was high but supply was “running out” after months of hardly any rainfall at the meeting involving the river authority, the civil protection department, the regions affected and other interested parties.
To make matters worse, it said there were no signs of the crisis easing, with forecasts saying the lack of rain is set to continue with high, above-average temperatures.
Meuccio Berselli, the secretary general of the River Po district authority, said Wednesday that the drought that is hitting Italy’s longest river means that some northern towns are needing to have water supplies brought in by trucks.
Berselli told ANSA that trucks have been taking water to dozens of towns in Piedmont and Lombardy because “the local reservoirs are fed by sources that no longer exist”.
Berselli said it has not rained in some parts of the north for 110 days and the drought was “worsening”.
He said a new meeting of the bodies concerned would be held on June 21.
More frequent and intense droughts are among the consequences of human-caused climate change, scientists say.
Via ANSA
