Italy’s Record-Low Po River Forces Farmers to Weigh Crop Switch
Farmers are shifting to less water-intensive crops as the Po River drops to historic lows and hydropower units sit idle, officials said.
- On July 30, Italy's Po River fell to 8.59 meters below the hydrometric zero at Cremona, 1 centimeter below the previous record low set during the severe drought of 2022, reducing flow to less than a third of historical norms.
- The Po River district accounts for about 41% of Italy's gross domestic product and 32% of agricultural production, according to the basin authority; warming temperatures cause earlier snowmelt, challenging decades-old water management systems.
- Farmer Giuseppe Tagliabue is among roughly 3,500 rice farms in the Po Valley facing the drought, with the Pavia rice sector facing losses exceeding €100 million due to drought and rising production costs.
- Seawater is penetrating more than 25 kilometers inland, endangering irrigation withdrawals, while Enel Green Power's Isola Serafini hydroelectric station halted all four generating units since July 30 due to low river flows.
- Confagricoltura Pavia director Alberto Lasagna advocates a "water farming" model using soil as a natural reservoir, though long-term infrastructure solutions like storage basins could take decades to build, leaving immediate adaptation as the priority.
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13 Articles
The Observatory of the District of the Po confirms the level of water severity "alta" . Lake Maggiore is in extreme drought conditions, the flows of the Po remain well under the historical averages and the salt wedge continues to climb the Delta
Drought scorches Italy's rice belt as water supplies hit record lows
On Giuseppe Tagliabue's estate on the Lombardy side of the Po River, the yellow of ripening rice plants gives way to the barren brown of fields where the crop, left without water for weeks, never reached maturity.
A prolonged drought and continuous heatwaves are causing concern in Italy, especially in Lombardy. Water supplies in the north of the country are running low, and Italy's longest river, the Po, is at an all-time low. The major lakes are also below their normal levels for this time of year.
The impact of drought and heat waves on water resources (ANSA) is becoming increasingly apparent
Italy's Record-Low Po River Forces Farmers to Weigh Crop Switch
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