MILAN – Italy’s worst drought in decades threatens to damage many crops and imposes a reckoning on how the country manages its water resources, as rising average temperatures increase the frequency of extreme weather events across Europe.
The Po River, Italy’s longest river and the main source of water for some of the country’s most fertile farmland, is at its lowest level since at least the mid-1940s. Some tributaries of the Po River have completely dried up. The waters in Lake Como, a popular tourist destination, are close to the lowest level ever recorded at this time of year.
