The PO River Drought

for L’Espresso Magazine

The Po is a river in northern Italy. Its length, 652 km, makes it the longest river in the Italian territory, the one with the largest catchment area (about 71 000 km2) and also the one with the highest flow rate at its mouth.
It originates in Piedmont, flows through Lombardy , Emilia Romagna and Veneto where it flows out of the Adriatic Sea.

About sixteen million people live on the banks of the Po and more than a third of Italy's industries and agricultural production are concentrated on its banks, as well as more than half of its livestock. This makes the river and its basin a nerve center for the entire Italian economy and one of the European areas with the highest concentration of population, industries and commercial activities.

Today, the Po is experiencing its greatest crisis in 70 years, ever-higher temperatures , lack of rainfall have brought the river to an alarming level of drought.
Water rationing, alternate irrigation of fields, suspension of some crops do not seem sufficient in containing the problem. Drastic measures and interventions for the future seem to be the only way to try to keep the river alive.