TURIN - Italy is currently experiencing one of the hottest and driest years on record, with rivers drying up and consequences being felt throughout the agricultural industry.

  The District Authority of the River Po and the Canale Emiliano Romagnolo (CER) has raised the alarm after only 20mm of rain fell in Emilia-Romagna in June, compared to an average of 48mm for the last 20 years.

  Since the beginning of the year in Bologna and Romagna there has fallen only 170mm of rain, 40 percent less than in the same period in Haifa, Israel. It is the second driest year on record for the area, only beaten by 2020, in which only 152mm fell in the same period.

  In Romagna it has not rained for 40 days; the only water flowing is the Canale Emiliano Romagnolo, whose 135 kilometres are needed to serve the drinking and farming needs of the entire area, as well as 4,000 hectares of wetlands.

  There have also been recorded huge losses in terms of cop yield due to the drought, as well as much higher temperatures, 1-3ºC above the average for the last 20 years.

  The several sub-basins and tributaries of the Po are also suffering, with the river Enza at a historic low.

  Some of the areas worst hit by the drought in the Po basin are those in southern Piedmont, including Biella, Asti, Cuneo and Turin. In Lombardy the water reserve has fallen by 8.5 percent in a week.

  “For us this scenario represents a huge responsibility, because even a day’s suspension of our functioning would lead to serious damage to crops, the environment and more,” said the president of the CER, Nicola Dalmonte. 

  Meuccio Berselli, Secretary General of the Po River District Authority, has warned that “we are only at the beginning of what promises to be a torrid and long summer, whose climatic situation can cause concern to the entire Po Basin.”

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