Po and Tevere Rivers in Italy Suffer Severe Drought Amid Heatwave

The Po river basin in northern Italy is experiencing a dramatic drop in water levels. In Pontelagoscuro the flow fell to 300 m³/s, a 67 % decline from the historical average, and the river’s surface has receded sharply in Boretto and other delta locations. Authorities from the regional park management and the water authority attribute the low levels to a prolonged heat wave, reduced precipitation and intensified water withdrawals for irrigation. They warn that the advancing saline wedge from the Adriatic Sea threatens agricultural fields in the delta.

Regional agricultural groups in Piedmont and Lombardy echo the alarm. Confagricoltura Piemonte calls for accelerated construction of reservoirs, upgrades to irrigation networks and better water‑storage strategies, while Lombardy’s water observatory reports a 35 % deficit in lake storage and advises a managed reduction in water deliveries to farms. The Tevere river in Umbria shows similarly reduced flows, with large sections of the channel exposed and irrigation withdrawals further straining the system. Environmental NGOs stress the need for drip‑irrigation, crop‑water‑use adjustments and coordinated water‑management policies, noting the lack of new reservoirs such as the still‑inactive Valfabbrica dam.

Both river basins face the combined pressures of climate‑induced heat, limited rainfall and existing water‑use practices, prompting calls for integrated, long‑term water‑resource planning to safeguard agriculture, ecosystems and regional economies.