Italy pumps from Lake Garda

Heat and drought are creating an extreme emergency in Italy. The government is now pumping out part of Lake Garda.

Rome – Italy continues to groan under extreme heat and drought. In some regions it has not rained for more than 100 days. In the north, water is now being pumped out of Lake Garda to counteract the emergency.

The current water crisis in Italy is particularly evident on the Po River. This is considered the lifeline in the north of the country and supplies a number of farms with water. At the moment, however, it can only be seen as a trickle. He should only carry just under 20 percent of the usual amount of water. Therefore, water is now pumped from Lake Garda into the Po, how nv reported. This is to prevent complete dehydration.

Italy taps into Lake Garda – drought already has enormous consequences

The water is now fed into the Po via the Mincio tributary in the south of Lake Garda. According to this, 70 cubic meters flow off per second. A large part of the Po water therefore already comes from Lake Garda.

The water level in Lake Garda is currently lower nv-Information has already fallen by almost half a meter. This causes dissatisfaction on Lake Garda itself. Here one does not want to give up even more water in order not to damage one’s own ecosystem, agriculture or the tourism industry.

However, the situation around the Po is very serious. The water level is currently below sea level. As a result, salty seawater penetrates miles inland, salting the soil and destroying entire crops. Cities like Pisa and Verona recently restricted water use. Venice and Milan turned off part of the fountains.

Lake Garda just the beginning? Italy wants to declare a state of emergency because of the drought

Italy’s government now wants to declare a state of emergency because of the severe drought in parts of the country. A meeting of the Council of Ministers is planned for Monday evening, said Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s official residence. The government therefore wants to declare a state of emergency for the areas that are hardest hit by the drought. Northern Italy in particular is currently experiencing severe drought.

The severity and likelihood of droughts have almost certainly increased in the Mediterranean and other regions of the world as a result of climate change.