Italy Faces Worst Drought in Decades as Europe Feels the Heat By Eric Sylvers, July 5, 2022, WSJ
Farming in the Po region is based on an extensive network of canals fed by the river and its tributaries that in many cases have been in place since the Renaissance or even earlier. While the canal system still works well and should be preserved, it is time for Italy to modernize parts of its water infrastructure, including by dredging deeper reservoirs so they can hold more water, said Mr. Gandolfi. Reclaimed water should be employed in agriculture, while drones and satellite imagery could help save water by identifying the best times to irrigate, he said.
Italy has been slow to improve its water management, despite calls from experts and environmentalists for the country to do more to prepare for droughts and other extreme weather events. A plan discussed for decades to increase the number of small reservoirs in farming areas that could collect rainwater for irrigation has never been implemented. Italy’s leaky network of pipes for supplying water to households also needs an overhaul: Around 40% of water is lost before it reaches consumers. “I want to be hopeful that improvements will happen because we are running out of time,” said Cristiano Fini, chairman of Cia-Agricoltori, who wants Italy to build large desalination plants and more small reservoirs.
The Italian government’s actions have been stunted because three different ministries—for agriculture, infrastructure and ecological transition—play a role in managing the national water network, Agriculture Minister Stefano Patuanelli said in a Senate hearing in late June. “In general, the country hasn’t been brilliant on the theme of (water) infrastructure,” Mr. Patuanelli said.
Carlo Rancati said the dairy cows he has on his farm near the Po are producing about half as much milk as usual because they have been eating less due to the extreme heat. The drought is also hurting his production of corn and other crops he feeds the cows. “I’ve been farming for four decades and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Mr. Rancati, 58.
The Po was already so low in late March that a piece of a German military vehicle last seen in 1945 became visible as the water subsided. Retreating German soldiers had driven the vehicle into the river so it couldn’t be used by the advancing Allied forces, said Simone Guidorzi, the curator of a World War II museum near where excavators extracted the vehicle. Local testimonials recounted children diving off the vehicle in the summer of 1945 just after WWII ended, but then it disappeared when the water rose later that year.
Four out of five Italians are worried about the drought and almost half worry they might not have enough water for their personal needs, according to a survey in June by polling institute SWG. With little rain forecast for the coming weeks and temperatures expected to reach
100 degrees Fahrenheit in many areas, there is little relief in sight. “It’s psychologically difficult for people to see the Po this low,” said Mirco Bortesi, the mayor of Sermide and Felonica, two towns on the Po that have been particularly hard hit by the drought. “This is the same type of psychological damage Covid caused, something you’re powerless to fight and you have no idea how bad it’s going to get or when it’ll end.”